The Prophecy
by Jackanobi Jerobble
Summary: A laid-back party in Hogsmeade to celebrate the start of a new year at Hogwarts soon escalates into a far-reaching adventure when Voldemort's forces attack the village.


A comfortable room in Hogsmeade lay relatively quiet, the Hogwarts party not having begun yet. Among a couple of others, a girl- Liselle- was there and she grabbed a bottle of butterbeer and some Chocolate Frogs and settled in a fire-side armchair. It wasn't long before others joined her.  
  
Merlin (believed to be a distant descendant of the great wizard himself, hence the nickname) strode in and bent down to hand his robes to Winky, whilst handing her an Elf Liberation Front badge, charmed to gently chorus the E.L.F anthem in a soft squeaky voice:  
  
I'm a person, not just an elf, You can't just put me on a shelf, To chore and work, Drives me berserk, With no respect at that.  
  
I want paying and I want lunch, Not just stale bread that I can munch, I want clothes, and warmth and like, You'd fall apart if I were to strike......  
  
And so on. Winky gently clutched the badge but threw it on the floor as soon as she got to the kitchen.  
  
The Weird Sisters followed Merlin in, one of them carrying a small suitcase. They moved into a corner and placed the suitcase on the floor, from which drums and other various instruments popped out as if there was a little room beneath the suitcase from which they were emerging, along with a band composed of strange looking creatures resembling house elves, but neatly clothed and refined. They began to play an odd but sort of relaxing tune.  
  
Merlin cast a quick alohomora on the large oak door (to keep the Muggles out) and then walked up to Liselle and Syreness, greeted them, and handed them some bags of Honey dukes sweets. He moved just next to a coffee table, under the warming glow of some floating candles next to the fire hearth, conjured a very large Gryffindor-red cushion, sits on it, and relaxed listening to the Weird sisters as the cushion lazily begins to float a few foot above the ground, taking out his own bag of Honeydukes sweets and begins to calmly chew on a little troll-shaped toffee that clumsily struggled to get away as a couple of others climbed out of the bag and began to run away over the carpet.  
  
Merlin briefly noted (picking a bit of toffee troll, that was stuck in his teeth, out, still wiggling a bit), that he'd invited Ron and Dean along. He pointed out to the others, however, that Ron had said he was busy with divination homework and probably couldn't make it, but he said he'd ask Fred and George if they'd like to come. Merlin didn't want to be rude so he didn't say anything about his incident with ton-tongue toffee, and an embarrassing moment with one of their trick wands while practising a robe summoning spell, and why he didn't really want Fred and George to come, so they might turn up at some point.  
  
Liselle waved a greeting to Merlin3rd Jr and took one of the sweets gladly. She took out a pack of Exploding Snap cards and challenged him to a game whilst tapping and humming to the strains of the Weird Sisters.  
  
"So," she said. "Do you think that you can beat me at exploding snap?"  
  
A salamander lazed in then heat of the fire and without warning someone set off some Dr Filibusters fire works.  
  
Merlin accepted the challenge with a little grin (exploding snap 1st year champion 2000). He picked up his cards, his cushion gently lowering slightly to table level, and began to play. Everything went fine until his first chance: Jack of clubs, nine of diamonds, ace of hearts, king of spades, king of spades. SLAM. He shouted SNAP loud enough to make Dobby (who was replenishing the food supply on a large mahogany table near the door) flinch and shudder. He had just enough time to hear the little king of spades cower and give a little, "Ouch! Watch it!" (in a very regal voice). There was a huge BANG! An explosion of bright blue and green flames and a mushroom tower of smoke and Merlin was knocked off his cushion, bounced off a large armchair and landed on the comfy carpet (which had luckily moulded itself into a toadstool shape just in time to catch him). Dobby came running over with a little wet towel as the carpet gently deflated itself with a rude noise. Merlin sat up, looking flustered, his hair all spiked up, still buzzing and topped with warm blue/green fire, his face covered in blue and green and an orange hue of smoke still hanging in the air.  
  
Dobby came right up and began to wipe Merlin's face. "Is sir alright? Does his back hurt? Let Dobby put out those flames."  
  
Merlin thanked Dobby and began to right himself, but Dobby caught fire, and due to his hairiness, it spread quickly. Merlin knew that it was only snap fire, that doesn't burn or do any damage, but Dobby didn't and he ran into the kitchen panicking, the entire top half of him on fire in blue and green, where the hiss as he dips his head in a sink was clearly audible. Obviously this didn't work (snap fire couldn't to be extinguished by water) and Dobby continued to scream and panic, knocking things over in the kitchen.  
  
Merlin and Liselle assumed it had been put out when they heard a popping noise (another house elf using magic) and Dobby shut up. Merlin continued to wipe his face clean and mutters something about Fred and George and stupid tricks.  
  
"I think I forfeit," he said to Liselle.  
  
In the meantime, Merlin re-mounted his cushion, still shaking blue and green dust out of his shirt and jumper. He took a look at his watch (20.00) and remembered the Wimbourne wasps vs The Appleby Arrows match would be starting soon, should be a good match. He floated over to the fire, got out his wand, cast a spell (televisio receptious connecto), and a large quidditch pitch appeared in the fire, with little black and yellow clad players, and blue ones with little silver arrows on their backs buzzing around the pitch, cheers from the crowd could be heard under the crackling of the fire.  
  
Merlin muttered, "Commentatio", and a pleasant voice excitedly started uttering an analysis of action on the pitch. The salamander didn't seem to like this, and so rummaged out of the fire and began chasing a gnome in the far corner of the room, under a picture of a very frustrated cat, trying to catch it, but unable to leave the confines of the frame. Merlin settled down to watch the match, and turned round to offer Liselle a game of chess after the game.  
  
Liselle raised one eyebrow and agreed to Merlin's challenge. With a wave of her wand arm she summoned the chessboard (Accio Chess). She deftly arranged the pieces and watched in amusement as the knaves square up to each other across the board. Putting it aside, she points out to Merlin that the tips of his eyebrows were still burning and offered him a quencher to put them out!  
  
The Wimbourne wasps vs. The Appleby Arrows match looked like it would be on for a while and Syreness had become really quiet after her blast of singing. Liselle put it down to embarrassment, oh well, what can you do about it but try to make people feel at home! So she took out the latest Daily Prophet edition. Nothing of note happening, a few Muggles needing their memories modified as usual. Rita Skeeter exaggerating some minor mishap in 'Flourish and Blots' and Martin Miggs the mad muggle's latest mishaps.  
  
Realising that the exploding snap cards had been scattered, she got up to tidy them (trying to do her bit for S.P.E.W!). Dobby appeared when they were finally all tidy and seemed rather disappointed.  
  
"Dobby are you ok?" she asked.  
  
"Miss is too kind," he squeaked. "Dobby is fine, thanking you." With that he is gone as quickly as he appeared in a haze of bad socks (one horrendous lurid pink spandex sock and one mouldy Brown one that looks suspiciously like Vernon Dursley's very unwashed.)  
  
Meanwhile Liselle handed Merlin a goblet of Pumpkin Juice. He'd been getting a little frustrated with the match and had been shaking his fist at the Wimbourne chaser Jerome Hibberworth for the last ten minutes and threatened to unleash all sorts of curses on him  
  
The smell of burning hair had finally gone, the salamander had given up plaguing the gnome and instead settled close to the fire to feel its heat but far enough avoid stray bludgers, seeming quite content. Nearly Headless Nick floated in looking for the Weird Sisters' ghost Melville but he was off with the Headless Hunt. Unimpressed, Nick hurled himself through the wall and could be heard cursing the Headless Hunt half way down the corridor.  
  
Liselle sat back with a cross crossword from the Daily Planet and waited until the match finished for the game of chess.  
  
The Quidditch match continued at a fast and furious speed. It didn't seem as though Merlin would be doing anything for quite a while. Liselle moved from the heat of the fire and relaxed in the window seat. It was a clear, crisp night. The stars twinkled in the deep velvet of the sky. Apart from the occasional muttering from the commentary, all was quiet.  
  
Liselle took out a magazine and began to browse casually, occasionally glancing up as people come and go from the room. The twins came and left but promised to return later, more than likely with a barrel full of Canary Creams or some Ton Tongue Toffees.  
  
Merlin turned round on his cushion and gently floated over to Liselle, and gave her a brief analysis of the comparatively short match.  
  
"The Appleby Arrows won of course, but they did their traditional celebration, firing arrows from their wands at the end, and the match was forfeited to the Wasps. Can't see what the referee's problem was myself, they never impaled many people when they used to do it, and most who got hit normally left hospital within a few weeks. Anyway, it doesn't matter, the Arrows are still in the league, but imagine the glory if they'd beaten their old rivals."  
  
Merlin and Liselle continued to discuss the match until eventually, Merlin jumped off his cushion and sat down in a chair opposite Liselle and started to line up his chess pieces. He'd forgotten to dissolve the transmission of the match, the pitch was still clearly visible in the fire, about 80 wizards were rushing all over the pitch below picking up the injured and confiscating the (somewhat annoyed) Arrows wands. There were also people rushing through the crowd seeing to the odd few who had taken a knock from a stray arrow. The Arrows' captain was still floating on his broom a few feet above the ground, talking to the slightly bruised referee, trying to assure him that the arrows would dissolve after a few minutes. What truth there was in this was debatable, as a few dozen warden wizards were still circling the pitch on broomsticks, scouting for and chasing after the elusive silver arrows that seemed to have a mind of their own. Every now and then, one would sweep past the viewpoint, close-up, and only a few minutes later, be seen dodging the aim of a frustrated pursuer. The Salamander seemed to be enjoying this, and lay, lazily in front of the fire, gazing mischievously, with what was an unmistakable grin on its face, at the commotion below on the pitch.  
  
Merlin finished lining up his pieces (he'd just had to chase a particularly rebellious pawn all round the board before it decided to take its place), and said, quite clearly, "Pawn 4 to D4."  
  
The pawn obeyed, and slid across the board.  
  
Liselle sent her first pawn to meet it. The two little pawns battled ferociously, to the amusement of the kings and queens, but eventually, after about two minutes of slashing and bashing, Merlin's pawn won (although it had lost one of its swords and most of its little helmet). The pawn had, however, been the rebellious one who refused to take its place, and Liselle was quick to assure Merlin he wouldn't be so lucky next time. Merlin chortled confidently and play resumed. The remains of Liselle's pawn magically rolled off the board and the pawn reassembled itself on the table, looking rather annoyed and flustered, and firing nasty faces and expressions at the victorious pawn.  
  
Liselle had been right though, and soon the playing field was more even. Merlin had checked Liselle once, but he had only just managed to get out of two very tricky checks imposed by Liselle, but at a loss of a bishop, a knight, and several unwilling pawns. Syreness was still snoozing in a chair, and the gnome had now been joined by a friend, both of whom were gleefully swinging on an old chandelier, much to the annoyance of a nearby portrait of a an old maid, who was desperately trying to urge them down. Dobby was busy dusting an old leather chair, and Winky could be heard busy at work in the kitchen preparing some more food.  
  
Mid play (probably trying to distract Liselle from another awkward move Merlin had imposed upon her, the obvious escape to which he could see easily from his perspective), he asked Liselle if she had heard about the new Nimbus 2500, that he thought he was getting for his birthday in a few months time. Liselle mumbled distantly, still heavily focussed on the chessboard. Feeling hungry, Merlin took a whizzing whisbee out of his Honeydukes bag, which he had to snatch in the air for several minutes before he could shut it in his mouth.  
  
Deeply engrossed in the game of chess Liselle stared at the board, squinting down at the remaining pieces that are standing boldly to attention.  
  
"Knight to B6" she barked. Merlin squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, he didn't see that one coming! "So tell me about the Nimbus 2500, that's what the Appleby Arrows are using now isn't it? I'm thinking of getting a new racing broom myself, although I may wait until the new Firebolt comes out," she continued.  
  
Merlin, in a desperate attempt to shore up his increasingly nervous King, went for the jugular, "Queen to E3.check," he grinned, as his queen decapitated Liselle's knight with ease and then re-arranged her hair. Liselle scowled but managed to save the King from a checkmate position for the moment.  
  
In the fire, a few Stingers could be seen circling the pitch in replica robes taunting the dejected Appleby fans. On quick calculation Liselle realised that now the Wasps were at the League summit, and muttered, "Just wait until the Kenmare Kestrels game."  
  
"Have you ever played Quodpot? It's great fun, at least until you find yourself on the ground seeing stars and a burnt patch on your robes!" Liselle asked, attempting to disrupt Merlin's concentration. "I have a few Quods and some potion if you want to try it."  
  
The gnomes on the Chandelier were getting dizzy and dropped to the carpet with a thud, and lay there giggling, sprawled out on their backs. The old maid clutched her smelling salts and dabbed delicately at her forehead with a lace handkerchief. Dobby and Winky appeared and each began to drag a gnome out by their feet. The gnomes hadn't noticed that they were been removed from the warmth of the common room yet and waved their bony arms at each other. The salamander turned his interest from the silver arrows to this scene and stretched luxuriously by the fire as if to say, "Haha, I'm still here!"  
  
As quickly as the house elves appeared, they vanished. The old maid seemed to have recovered sufficiently as she now had company in the shape of Sir Cadogan who was trying to woo her with his 'skills', but ended up falling over his lance. Unfathomably, the old maid swooned but her fall was however broken by Sir Cadogan who remained prone on the ground. They eventually untangled themselves, Sir Cadogan offered her a ride on his fat pony and the two of them were later seen riding through all the pictures in the room much to the disgust of several residents.  
  
Matters became somewhat interesting when the pair rode through a hunting scene, the highly trained hunting dogs began their chase of Sir Cadogan and his fair maid, they were stopped just before they reached the oil painting of the cat (who earlier was attempting to catch the salamander and the first gnome).  
  
Undeterred, Sir Cadogan and the old maid continued their merry way around the room, passing through seascapes, picnics and private residences as they do so.  
  
Feeling thirsty Liselle waved her wand- "Accio pumpkin juice". Merlin stared in rapt concentration at the board; Liselle's three remaining pawns did a quick jig trying to goad Merlin's rebellious pawn into moving off his square. Merlin sighed and eventually made his move.  
  
Merlin, still concentrating hard on Liselle's vicious retaliation, and still concentrating hard on the board said, "Yep, I've played Quodpot, I went with my parents to see some American relatives in Arizona, they moved from Boston because of all the Muggles a couple of years ago. Their ancestors used to play quodpot, but they had to begin using invisibility charms on the brooms when the skyscrapers began to pop up, so passing was a bit difficult. Anyway, it was great on the open fields, I nearly won in one game, but I got passed an active quod and it exploded in my face, awful that was. Anyway, like I said it was excellent, but not as good as Quidditch I don't think. Aha ! Gotcha ! Check Mate !"  
  
Merlin grinned broadly and promptly looked up at Liselle, who looked a bit surprised. It was King versus King, Merlin had managed to manoeuvre his King in order to escape from a brutal previous move by Liselle, now, the two Kings were face to face, readying for battle.  
  
The little Kings (though surprisingly regal and impressive for their size), bowed (although each keeping one suspicious eye on the other). After the bow, they both drew their swords swiftly, and a massive battle of mini- titanic proportions took place. Merlin's black King swung a powerful sideways blow at Liselle's, but the white King blocked it defiantly, sweeping it away, taking the opportunity to fire a glancing swipe at Merlin's King, chipping his shoulder, swiping through the engraved marble armour. Liselle's King quickly employed another, more powerful blow at the black King's head. The black King resisted strongly, although bending under the power of the attack. Merlin's King was gradually pushed down to the ground, bending backwards. With the black King's head nearly touching the ground, the two kings face-to-tiny-face with each other, a victorious glint in the white King's eye, but with a massive push, the black King, his face showing the might he was mustering, pushed fiercely against Liselle's King. The white King was thrown back wards, but not over, he stumbled, his sword flailing at his side. The black King righted himself, and threw a massive strike upwards against the toppling white King, completely severing his little marble arm, which flew into the sky, through the two engrossed spectators, hitting Merlin on the nose. Merlin crinkled up his nose, leant back a little and released a little ouch, rubbing the point where the arm had hit. Liselle diverted her attention from the battle a moment to give a little giggle. The dust settling from the blow, the white King, gallantly showing no regard for his wound apart from a brief glance at his shoulder, repressing an unmistakable expression of pain bravely, he landed another strike with both hands straight across, but the black King responded quick enough to deflect it, his sword hand pushed backwards and off balance however, by the strength of the attack. The white King, with newly found resolve, swept his sword heavily, but with only one hand, against the black King, swiping a diagonal slash against his lower chest. Before Merlin's King could respond, the white King struck again, this time from left to right, slashing a diagonal chunk out of the black King. Merlin's King looked down at the missing chunk, bracing its hands round the wound, bending its head down in pain.  
  
The white King swung again, with a sense of finality to the attack, but the black King quickly regained his composure, and brought his sword to bear, blocking the swing, furious, the black King began to swing violently, the white King blocking and following suit, slashing back with glancing blows where he could. The battle continued for a few minutes, generally with the Merlin's King winning. Most chess battles didn't continue this long, but this was a war of the warriors, and a particularly violent and sturdily built set of pieces.  
  
A few, seemingly brief minutes of very fast pace battling, almost unbelievable from such small people, the damage was massive. The black King swung relentlessly, but the white King responded with another strike that monetarily immobilised the black King's stance. The white King was quick to take the opportunity, he punched the black King hard on the nose (his sword was swung backwards from the strength of the previous assault), swung round and karate-kicked the opposition in the abdomen. The black King, however, quickly regained his posture, slightly winded, he continued his attacks . The white King was heavily chipped and his curly marble beard had been completely removed, and of course, his left arm was missing. The black King was better off to look at, but he was obviously tired, and his attacks were getting less powerful. Suddenly, the White King saw his chance. He had been beaten back and was open to attack, but, the black King was clearly exhausted, and was using his time to regain his breath. The white King righted with tremendous speed and brushed his battered sword up towards Merlin's King, chipping off his nose. Shocked, Merlin's King stumbled backwards. Liselle's King grasped the chance and stabbed forwards powerfully, right through the black King's chest. The white King swiftly removed his sword, holstered it, and stood proudly as Merlin's King dropped to his knees and then onto the ground, his sword falling into Liselle's Kings hand, the white King, strongly swishing it up and pointing it into the air, still his little chest heaving rapidly as he breathed.  
  
The remains of Merlin's King rolled off the board and reassembled themselves perfectly, as if brand new, even the floating candles light shimmering on its polished crown. Liselle's King, however, remained battered and confidently walked to the centre of the board, Merlin's King's sword still raised high in the air in its hands.  
  
"Barbaric, totally barbaric," Merlin muttered. Liselle quickly responded that he only thought that because he lost.  
  
"Good game. I'll beat you next time," said Merlin smiling. Liselle chuckled back a "Whatever," and picked up a copy of Witch Weekly and began reading a fascinating article about a new method a Parisian dressmaker had found for making fabrics from Parasolla silk (a kind of spider).  
  
Syreness was still sleeping, although Dobby had put a cushion under her head. A gnome was secretively popping its head around an open window, beckoning to its friends it was safe to come in, giggling cheekily. Sir Cadogan has seemed to surrender to the maids eventual pleas to stop, and was now sitting with her in a nice sunny meadow enjoying a picnic, not noticing some little blue pixies flutter up behind them, trying to steal their desserts (one in particular having trouble with a large rosy red apple). Quite a few people were in now, including a growing crowd of about 8 surrounding another fire and table, in front of the hearth of which, Fred and George had returned to demonstrate a new product, including (as Liselle predicted), their highly successful canary creams, which were being demonstrated to full effect by Dean Thomas who had been turned into a bright yellow bird, and was only beginning to moult. A group of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor girls were giggling surrounding another table, flanked by two large, red sofas.  
  
Merlin had just finished watching the entire white side of the chess pieces come up and excitedly congratulate their King by means of bows from the bishops, ankle hugs from the pawns, a wifely kiss from the queen, and being carried around the board by the knights. The black pieces, however, were gathered around the black King less actively trying to console him, and telling him he was best really, and the white King won using illegal moves, cowardice, or some other comforting excuse.  
  
Then, suddenly, the relative peace was broken by Lily Potter running, screaming and panicking into the room towards Merlin.  
  
'He's going to kill me! Somebody help!'  
  
All heads turned to face her as she knelt down in front of Merlin pleading for help.  
  
"Calm down Lily, what on Earth's wrong ? "  
  
She soon replied, still in a terrified turn... "I don't know what to do!" Her eyes darted around the room to make sure it was safe to continue. "He's taken over control... it was awful... I tried to make him to stop... he took him... he's gone... you must save him, help me... help!"  
  
At this point she could no longer stop herself from crying. she broke down and sobbed into Merlin's robes.  
  
All that could be heard were snatches of words, all jumbled up amongst the tears.  
  
"Wand... door...snapped... broken... Cruciatus curse... run.. he didn't run...help...scream...didn't see them coming... what to do... don't know... help me!" she finally managed to look up Merlin, tears rolling down her cheeks, her blood shot eyes pleading with him for the help she so desperately required.  
  
But Merlin still didn't have a clue what had happened or what need to be done. Who had been taken, and by whom? Where had Lily come from? She was wet through and muddy. Cuts and scrapes on her bare arms showed she had been in a fight of some sort.  
  
Merlin looked down at her, then across to Liselle. Lily was huddled into Merlin's robes again.  
  
At this point, about seven house elves, headed by Dobby and Winky (Winky was still carrying a tray of half finished jam and cream tarts and had castor sugar sprinkled all over her face). Some people had now got up and where walking towards Lily, all the paintings had turned round to look too, especially a portrait of a porky little wizard who seemed to be enjoying the situation immensely, and had invited some friends to come in and look. Fred and George were also coming over.  
  
Liselle got off her armchair, put down her copy of Witch Weekly, knelt down beside Lily and tried to comfort her, but nothing seemed to be working. Merlin offered Lily a bottle of elderflower wine which she gulped down quickly and which seemed to calm her down a bit. Whilst she was gaining her breath, Merlin turned round to a couple of his friends who had gathered behind him, looking down at Lily, and told a Hufflepuff to go up to Hogwarts and get a teacher. He also told a couple of Gryffindors and a Ravenclaw to go outside and see if they could get help or find out what was wrong (he would have gone himself, but Lily was holding onto his robes too tightly).  
  
Fred and George said they were going to look too, and they followed the group out the oak doors. Some people were also gathering at the windows now, and Hannah Abbott had joined a group of about five girls all trying to comfort Lily.  
  
Merlin took his wand out of his pocket (Mahogany, gold, platinum and emerald trimmings, engraved with his name with a core containing lunar diamond dust from a blue moon, nice), as a group of nervous and apprehensive people gathered around the large oak doors and began locking and securing it with several charms, spells and hexes, a few more elves emerging from the kitchen, the pixies in sir Cadogan's meadow taken the distraction as an opportunity to steal food from right in front of the old maid.  
  
"It's ok Lily, you're safe now. In your own time, what's wrong, what happened? You said something about the Cruciatus curse, are you alright?"  
  
Liselle turned round to notice a few agitated people getting out their quills and pieces of parchment, ready to send an owl to the ministry if the use of the Cruciatus curse proved true.  
  
The still jittery Lily was quick to respond...  
  
"I'm not sure where to start, what to say, how to say it!" she began, nervously looking over her shoulder and trying to move away from the many hands on her back trying to be of some comfort. Tears still rolling down her cheeks and onto her robes she looked back up at Merlin. "Its Dumbledore..."  
  
The sound was amazing, as though as one the whole crowd listening had inhaled in disbelief. Shock and horror were running through their minds... had Dumbledore been killed or had it been him who had performed one of the illegal curses?  
  
"He was with Harry, Ron and Hermione. They shouldn't have been there... they should have been in Hogwarts... but they'd decided to go down to Hogsmeade, to get some fresh air and have a few butter beers. I'm not sure what happened exactly but Death Eaters were there. I arrived in time to see Dumbledore being hauled away on a rather odd looking broomstick. Harry was in the middle of a duel with one of the evil fiends, a man I didn't recognise managed to bind him and two or three others before another lashed out with the Cruciatus curse. Harry dived in the way to save Hermione. Ron jumped on the Death Eater and knocked him out."  
  
The crowd didn't have a clue what to make of this. Lily seemed to be almost calm now, but when talking about Harry her voice had changed. Was that the end of Mr Potter, or had he managed to escape the curse for a second time?  
  
Lavender Brown voiced everyone else's concerns. "But what happened to Harry?"  
  
Lily bit her lip desperately trying to stop herself from crying again. "He's such a hero. I don't know whether he knew or not, but the curse didn't work on him. After he had defeated the curse when it had rebounded on Voldemort it must have left more than the visible mark on him. He cannot be killed using that particular method. He, Ron and Hermione have gone after Dumbledore. The Hogshead is totally destroyed, there is almost nothing left. What are we to do, we must help them find Dumbledore, he has to be saved, we're nothing without him. Merlin you must help. Please, what can we do?"  
  
There was desperation in her voice now. Stunned, her audience fell into utter silence, awaiting the reply.  
  
Liselle stood up and began to pace the room in a preoccupied way, muttering under her breath. Turning around she took a deep breath and said to Lily, "I need to see what happened for myself, I want you to use this pensieve to allow me to see what happened, by releasing your thoughts this way, you will feel better too."  
  
Lily gulped and slowly nodded her head. "Its not pretty," she whispered. "Be prepared."  
  
Wordlessly Liselle handed her the pensive and Lily bent her head to it. It filled with a frothing and misty gaseous liquid. Liselle takes the pensieve and poked it with her wand (Holly, 9 inch with a rare black phoenix feather plucked at the first full moon after the solstice and trimmed with platinum.)  
  
Lily was still on the floor in front of Merlin. Liselle placed the pensieve on the coffee table. Everyone was very shocked at this. Pensieves are incredibly rare, some people didn't even know what it was.  
  
Merlin stood up abruptly with a look of confident disbelief on his face. "Now wait a minute Lily. You're saying that three fifteen year olds were involved in a fight against a group of Death Eaters? I don't seriously think Dumbledore'd allow it, and I know Ron and Hermione well, Ron's not exactly the first person I'd put in a gang to fend off Volde.. I mean, You Know Who." Several people shuddered at this moment, one girl let out a whimper. "I mean, he's brave and everything, but he's not too great with magic, at least, not good enough to face a Death Eater."  
  
Most people seemed to agree with this, but still looked terrified.  
  
"Anyway, if you're right, there's not much we can do." Merlin wasn't normally the one to edge away from fear, but he seemed unusually apprehensive and very opposed to what Lily was saying. Lily seemed too frightened to listen much and instead, slowly raised her wand to her head to show the memory.  
  
Suddenly, there was massive bang against the door and it began to rattle convulsively, the sky at the windows instantly turned an inky black, lit only by rapid lightning bolts and the howl of the eerie wind blowing the clouds. Several people screamed loudly and ran towards Liselle, Lily and Merlin who were seated at the opposite end of the room to the door. The people standing right next to the door were too terrified to move, a couple fainted outright, or at least fell to the floor. Even the pictures seemed frightened. A portrait of a Victorian nanny showed three little children she was caring, run behind her extensive dress in fear crying. Merlin struggled his way through the terrified crowd, wand ready, and stood in front of the door, ready to confront whoever was there, he looked frightened, but reluctantly confident. As he stood there, the door still banging and rattling heavily (quite shocking considering what a heavy, ancient thing it was), Liselle ploughed her way through the crowd with a similar expression on her face, and positioned herself behind Merlin to his left and stood ready. A couple of other Gryffindors did the same, with a few Ravenclaws positioning themselves strategically around the room and behind pieces of furniture, the Hufflepuffs composing most of the crowd still trying to comfort Lily.  
  
With a huge clash, the doors swung open, rain and wind flowing in like somebody had just opened Pandora's box. There was a terrifying flash of lightning, illuminating the outlines of the tall figures. The door glowed and swirled with several different colours, and flashes of light as all the curses and hexes that people had put on the door flew back on their creators. Several people were flung backwards. One boy looked as if he was being brutally squeezed whilst being shook from side to side. Several people were on the floor glowing bright green. A few had been turned upside down. More had suffered unusually powerful leg-locker curses (probably stronger due to the fear with which they were placed). Some people had sprouted massive boils that were engulfing them entirely. A couple were pinned to the wall facing the door, squirming, trying to get out, as if some invisible force was pressing them there and holding them like a web, similarly, some were pinned to the ceiling. Some of the people near the door had disappeared completely, and one poor third year was running around the floor, about an inch tall, being chased by a very amused spider. Others had tight plant-like ropes that had come from no-where, binding them in mid air. Merlin promptly shouted what sounded like a very complicated incantation, and streams of colour shot from his wand, piercing the powerful wind and rain. The two Gryffindors who had come to fight, had succumb to one of the spells guarding the door. Liselle shouted out a spell, and something smallish came flailing into the room, banged against a wall and fell to the floor. Both Merlin and Liselle turned to see what was there. Suddenly, there was an icy cold, dripping hand gripping Merlin's shoulder. He thrashed out, knocking the hand from his shoulder, and then, something very unexpected happened.  
  
"Mr Carter!" bellowed a familiar, stern and furiously annoyed voice from the doorway. It was Professor McGonagall. She walked briskly towards Merlin, carrying an unnaturally powerful lantern, that illuminated the doorway, showing several bodies piled up in it, occasionally sparking various colours, still smoking. They were all Hogwarts teachers, one of them was stirring uncomfortably in an attempt to get up. Professor Snape was at Merlin's side cradling his arm that Merlin had just hit.  
  
"I'll be taking that!" McGonagall snatched away Merlin's wand. The wand gave a little squeal and McGonagall's hand began smoking and squirming. She dropped the wand to the ground and Merlin promptly picked it up.  
  
"You shall put that away immediately Mr Carter," said McGonagall in a surprised and annoyed tone, nursing her hand in her robes. Several other people emerged through the door, some stopping to help up the heavily stunned teachers in the doorway. Merlin looked around McGonagall to see the people coming in. They were mostly Hogwarts teachers. Madam Pomfrey instructed a nurse to help those still in the doorway and ran over to a very dazed professor Flitwick who had landed near a speechless crowd gathered near a large sofa, shortly joined by two other teachers.  
  
Another person slowly clunked up behind McGonagall. An oldish man with grizzly hair, a heavily scarred face, a wooden leg, and a very interesting eye that was darting around the room in a bizarre fashion, his other, normal eye, becoming illuminated in the glare of McGonagall's lamp, which was beginning to look less bright and turn to a normal glow now it had entered a moderately well lit room.  
  
"And you, Miss Lafelle...." McGonagall was pointing towards Liselle, but the man who had appeared behind her (who was obviously Alastor Moody, the famed ex-auror), interrupted her.  
  
"It's alright Minerva, they didn't mean any wrong," he said in a gruff voice.  
  
McGonagall didn't seem satisfied. "Still, I would've expected more of you two. One of my best transfiguration students, and a descendant of Merlin."  
  
She stopped, rather shocked, and with a stern and typically disapproving look on her face. She looked relieved however.  
  
Most of the teachers in the doorway were still recovering from Merlin's curse, but Flitwick seemed ok. Being so small must give him a resilience to being knocked around. As soon as McGonagall had finished, some more people came through the door; the people who Merlin had asked to get help, flanked by three more wizards (probably from Hogsmeade) and two teachers. The Hufflepuff who'd gone to get help from Hogwarts looked very satisfied with himself.  
  
Fred came forward, closely followed by George who was carrying someone... Neville. George was having a lot of trouble. Judging from how breathless Fred was, he'd obviously been helping to carry Neville too.  
  
Merlin, Liselle, and some other people ran forward.  
  
"Oh no, is he.."  
  
Merlin was interrupted by Fred, who walked forward and rather carelessly dumped Neville on a sofa.  
  
"No, he tripped up over a fallen tree."  
  
At this point, Moody had turned round to the door, locked it, and seemed to be sealing it with his wand much more effectively than effectively than the others had.  
  
Madam Pomfrey was still running around, caring to the fallen teachers and helping Flitwick and some other teachers Merlin hadn't been taught by, restore those who had been afflicted by their door locking curses. Pomfrey was having trouble restoring the shrunken boy's clothes to a reasonable size, and Flitwick was busy resurrecting a very frustrated-looking pool of goo that was gradually morphing back into a fourth year Ravenclaw.  
  
McGonagall moved to the centre of the room and informed everyone that they were to be returning to Hogwarts immediately and not to panic, although McGonagall herself looked surprisedly frightened. Everyone was looking very worried now that their fears had been certified. McGonagall hadn't actually said what had happened, but by her tone of voice, everyone could tell it was bad, very bad, and the raging black storm outside certainly wasn't natural. Lily was still surrounded by about sixteen people trying to comfort her, and the house elves looked positively petrified. Winky had drooped her tray when the door opened and run screaming into Dobby. Even the gnomes didn't look quite right, six had now managed to make there way back in and were cowering in a corner.  
  
Moody was now walking up to McGonagall with his normal cluck, shaking his head slightly.  
  
"I'm afraid we're not going anywhere yet professor," he said. "I can't guarantee any of the students' safety out there. It's far too dark and that storm's too bad for even all of us to keep an eye on everyone."  
  
He vaguely gestured towards some of the teachers. "And besides, look." Moody pointed to a nearby window, which had now been well and truly sealed. There were bright flashes clearly visible outside and shouts from a variety of wizards, and terrified screams. People gathered cautiously around the window and gasped as they saw dark figures gliding in the distance, surrounded by other various outlines. They seemed to be engaged in some huge battle, but the trees (many of which had fallen over), the wind, the ridiculously torrential rain and pitch blackness that was swallowing the landscape made the details hard to make out. It looked as though some parts of Hogsmeade had been devastated, several buildings were on fire, and there were evil howls coming from everywhere. Whether that was just the rain or something more sinister was unclear.  
  
"Very well, everyone pay attention please. We will be sheltering here for the time being, there is no need to worry, everyone remain calm."  
  
It didn't sound like even McGonagall herself believed that. It looked like everyone in the room wanted to ask questions, but they all seemed far too terrified to want to know the answers.  
  
"Minerva, I'm going to have to leave and help."  
  
McGonagall didn't seem too happy at this suggestion, but nonetheless, she agreed.  
  
"When I leave, I want you and the other professors to prevent any apparitions into this building, understood?" Moody continued.  
  
McGonagall seemed reluctant to take orders from Moody, but again, she agreed.  
  
"And do anything else you feel prudent to protect the students whilst I'm gone."  
  
"Very well," she responded curtly. She began ushering the other teachers towards her, as Moody walked towards the door, got out his wand (and a couple of other interesting contraptions that must have been dark defenders), readied himself, and disappeared with a pop. The teachers separated into different areas of the room, casting spells and muttering incantations. Everybody was terrified.  
  
Merlin approached McGonagall.  
  
"Professor," he enquired.  
  
"Yes Mr Carter," McGonagall responded busily and worriedly. (McGonagall was the only person who called Merlin by his second name).  
  
"Lily was just about to show us what happened."  
  
McGonagall stopped suddenly and turned round. She looked very worried and thoughtful, as though she wasn't sure if she wanted to know, especially if she wanted all the students to see. She glanced over at Lily and saw her still sobbing, surrounded by people.  
  
"I'm sure you can see that Lily isn't ready for anything of the sort at this moment."  
  
"I am," sobbed Lily. "People need to see."  
  
"Very well, if you're ready."  
  
The teachers and others gathered around Lily and the pensieve, Merlin, Liselle, and the other people near the door moving in closer, as she touched her wand to her head, and began to pull out a silvery stream of wispy, fine threads. Merlin turned round to the fire to see that the pitch was now deserted and the sky around it was black. The commentary had stopped, there was a terrible storm raging, and several dark, hooded and cloaked figures had floated on to the pitch like sharks. Merlin waved his wand over the fire, disgusted and frightened by the sight. The image dissolved.  
  
Neville had now woken up and some people were explaining what had happened. He looked terrified.  
  
Merlin turned round to look at Lily. The crowd around her engrossed. As she pulled the memory into the bowl, it began to form into an image.  
  
The release of the image seemed to give Lily a new confidence. She seemed more like the strong, determined and brave character that everybody knew her as. It was comforting for those watching. If they had Lily back, they were in with a chance of not only understanding what had happened but of putting it right.  
  
The image became clearer... soon it looked almost solid.  
  
People re-positioned themselves so they could all see the image that was being projected. although it was a small pensieve, the image was large enough for all to see. It sat itself on the top of the bowl, like it had when Harry had been talking to Dumbledore about Bertha Jorkins in his office.  
  
The watching crowd was in total silence as the image began to clearly show them the events of earlier that evening. Even the sound of the wind and rain from outside was silenced as they watched Lily walking through Hogsmeade.  
  
She was walking down from the direction of the Shrieking Shack into the streets of Hogsmeade. It was a clear evening and the sun had not fully gone down yet. Suddenly a huge bang erupted from somewhere nearby. She looked wildly, seeming nervous and disorientated. Flashes appeared in the sky to their left. Without a word they both ran. Through the street and right to the place where the flashes of green and red were coming from.  
  
As they came to the door of the Hogshead she slowed down. There was a commotion inside that was sounding throughout the village. Making sure to remain unseen, she peered through one of the windows. The occupants of the Hogshead were too busy to have noticed her anyway. Inside she- and the rest of the students watching through the pensieve- saw a large group of Death Eaters fighting tirelessly with a group of wizards, but she didn't recognise any she'd seem so far.  
  
Lily scanned the room for Harry. He was cornered with Dumbledore. Both had been tied and Dumbledore looked unconscious. In the scuffle they couldn't quite see how but Harry managed to get free from the binds.  
  
The crowd gasped. Harry took his wand back from one of the Death Eaters who was lying unconsciously on the floor, along with the man's own wand and threw it to one of the wizards who looked like he was in a little in trouble, but with a wand back in his hand he had no problem at all binding up the fallen Death Eaters. Harry was suddenly attacked from behind. Hermione, who had been trying to escape from the cords binding her was able to retrieved her wand from the floor in time to set herself free and help Harry.  
  
All seemed to be going well for them. But at that moment four Death Eaters came in from behind the bar and blinded them all with a great white light. Everyone hit the floor. No one could see. When the light disappeared, so had all the Death Eaters, except those who had been bound. Lily rushed out side in time to see a rather odd looking broomstick flying away southwards with Dumbledore on the back, still unconscious by the looks of it.  
  
Most of the crowd were whimpering slightly now. The sounds of the outside world slowly interrupted their ears and they all seemed lost in their own thoughts.  
  
Lily looked at McGonagall. "What are we to do, Professor? You know that Dumbledore is the most important weapon we have. Harry, Ron and Hermione went with him, but I'm not sure that was a good idea. We're in trouble. We knew this day night come. What is the plan? With Dumbledore and Harry both away, its up to us!"  
  
McGonagall opened her mouth to speak, but the words had not quite formed, when there was a terrible banging on the window.  
  
Everyone screamed. The face at the window stepped back before pressing its nose against the glass and banging even harder.  
  
McGonagall and some other teachers approached the window apprehensively, wands ready. A second flash of lightning revealed a terrible scarred face. Mad Eye Moody. He mouthed, "Let me in" through the glass. A look of relief spread visibly through the crowd, and McGonagall and some others went to the door, removed some of the spells protecting it and opened the doors. Moody walked in with an unusually fast clunk. He was immediately thrown against a wall and began to squirm and shake as if being strangled by some invisible force. McGonagall quickly hurried forward and released him (one of the hexes protecting the door mustn't have been removed properly). Flitwick and some other teachers went up to the door and quickly sealed it. The teachers and Moody swiftly walked over towards the crowd of people. Questions suddenly came flooding towards him, "What's happening?", "Have you found Dumbledore?" "Is he ok?" "Are the Death Eaters gone?"  
  
Moody replied, a glare in his eye, "It's ok, it's over, the Death Eaters are gone. We've found Dumbledore and he's ok. The battle's over."  
  
A satisfied gleam in his eyes, he continued, "Now, you'll all have to come down to Hogsmeade with me. There's still some disturbance up near the castle so we'll have to do a circuit to avoid it."  
  
Some people seemed a bit worried about this, but everyone began to follow Moody towards the door. Moody muttering as he went under his breath, followed at the front by the teachers.  
  
Suddenly, there was a piercing scream distantly from outside. Everybody stopped still. There were a few words heard from behind. It was Merlin, who was still near the fire and window; he gestured towards the window. "Professor, look," he said to McGonagall.  
  
Everyone turned round to look at the window, the lightning still striking viciously to light the outside.  
  
There was a bracing black figure sweeping by outside. Covered in black robes, and gliding horribly, the tatty billows of its clothes blustering menacingly in the powerful wind, it glided with incredible speed towards Hogsmeade from which terrifying flashes of light could be seen, many buildings still on fire.  
  
The crowd stared unmovingly and fearfully at the scene. Everyone stared at the window for what seemed like an infinity, watching the terror unfold, until a few people turned round to see Merlin running furiously towards an opening in the gathering, wand raised, his robes gliding behind him. He looked oddly frightening and determined, it was like it was all happening in slow motion. As the crowd turned round, it became clear that Merlin was charging towards Moody. People turned round to see the expression on Moody's face, expecting to see the surprise and shock that they also felt, but instead he was smiling bizarrely, his entire face stretched to the extreme in a huge and frightening grin, a glint of pure evil in his eye. He was drawing his own wand. Merlin shouted something in a very strong voice, a huge potent misty plume of green, purple and white shot from his wand at tremendous speed, right at Moody. Merlin had now stopped and was standing, wand outstretched, the plume moving forwards. Moody had pulled his wand and slashed it against the air. The crowd was thrown backwards with tremendous force, but Merlin stood standing. The plume hit Moody in his chest just as he had thrown the crowd back. He was knocked over backwards and seemed to be struggling to keep upright, or even conscious, electric like tentacles of green and purple swept over Moody's body and he began to scream. It wasn't a scream of pain; more like a scream of anger, as if he was trying to muster all his strength. Merlin seemed to be struggling too, a look of pain spreading across his face. There were now huge bolts and flashes of light coming from Moody's chest, and an odd purple and green mist around him.  
  
Suddenly, Moody screamed a tremendous high pitched howl and pushed upwards, righting himself, wand drawn he screamed Crucio in an abnormally exhausted and angry voice that wasn't his own. Merlin was swung into the air, a bright green stream of light coming from Moody's wand. Merlin was hanging, shaking in the air, screaming with pain, green flashes appearing all around him, howling, horrible screams of pure agony. There was a tremendous bolt of searing yellow light that blinded everyone and shrouded the entire room.  
  
The blinding flash stopped, and the light was normal apart from the flashes of green from outside and the raging storm.  
  
Merlin was lying on a large Persian rug on the floor, completely motionless, his robes singed, his wand still in his hand. People had begun to get up after being flung against the walls. Moody was lying flat on the floor surrounded by a white-yellowish glow and mist that was settling around him. About twelve Hogwarts teachers were standing around him, looking terrified and ruffled, lowering their wands, they had obviously all stunned Moody together. crowds began to run towards Merlin and the teachers. McGonagall walked up to Moody who was completely unconscious, pointed her wand at him and said, "Imperium liberatis."  
  
Moody shook and his head slumped onto its side. Madam Pomfrey was looking over Merlin. "He's unconscious, completely out. He took a nasty bump to his head when he landed, and I can't heal the after affects of that curse quickly. He should be ok though."  
  
Several people were now gathered round Merlin and a few had plucked up the courage to move up to Moody.  
  
"The Imperius curse," said McGonagall. "One of those things outside must've been controlling him."  
  
The crowd were terribly shaken by this, and were now scattered throughout the room where they had landed after being thrown back, and hadn't dared move.  
  
Lily was still holding the pensieve, horrors still playing out inside it. Neville had fainted and was being helped up by three people.  
  
Suddenly, there was a gasp from the crowd surrounding Merlin.  
  
"You mustn't get up dear, he should've been out for hours after that." Madam Pomfrey's shocked voice could be heard, in a surprised tone.  
  
Merlin was now sitting upright, the crowd parting around him. A huge red and blue bruise on the right hand side of his forehead, down the right hand side of his cheek to his ear, a glowing green patch on his chest where the curse had hit, he was propping himself upright with his slightly singed hands, his robes were burnt and ruffled, as was his hair, and he looked pained, angry and exhausted, but he seemed to be assured of something, something terrifying.  
  
He simply muttered, "It's begun."  
  
The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. the silence was more than eerie it was terrifying. the words still rang in their ears "It's begun!"  
  
But what had begun? What had Merlin all worked up and really to attack the next thing through that door? How had Mad Eye been caught, he was one of the best they had? Did it mean that they were in more danger than ever with Dumbledore still in the hands of the Dark Lord, Sirius, Harry, Ron and Hermione still unaccounted for? All these questions still running through their minds. The terrified looks on their faces growing with every passing second...  
  
"That's it then," said Professor McGonagall at last. "We have to fight. The war has begun. With the Order of the Phoenix scattered, we'll have to take on the job as best we can until we get back either Dumbledore or Harry. Let me think about this... teachers, make sure that door is well guarded. Search the place from top to bottom, we don't want to suddenly discover that there is a secret way in when it's a Deatheater that got in here. The rest of sort yourselves out into your houses. Gryffindors on my left, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs on my right. I'm not sure if the fact we have hardly any Slytherins here is significant. We'll come to that later if we have to. Quickly please. Sort yourselves out."  
  
Even the re-arranging of their seating positions was done in silence. They were too terrified to talk. McGonagall's voice was so authoritative that no one dared question her about anything. She clearly had a lot of thinking to do.  
  
Professor McGonagall sat for a moment, then started pacing the room. "If only Remus or Arabella were here. Hmmm, can I dare to do it? Hmmm." She walked quickly over to the fireplace. The fire had gone out a long time ago. She quickly lit it- "Lumos holeb" and threw in a handful of powder that she had retrieved from inside her robes. Remus, if you're there, I need you urgently. Bring Arabella if you can. We're all in grave danger."  
  
Suddenly Lupin's head appeared inside the flames.  
  
"What is it Minerva? What has happened?" He was clearly trying to hide the fear in his voice, but was failing miserably.  
  
"No time to explain. We need you both here as soon as possible."  
  
"Well, we just got in about ten minutes ago from our mission. I was about to go to Dumbledore with the new information we've obtained. But if you need us, we'll be there."  
  
McGonagall continued talking to Lupin in the fire, everybody else had begun to mingle in between the lines she had neatly arranged. The house elves were still nowhere to be seen. McGonagall was now talking in hushed tones, some words penetrating her and Lupin's mumbles: Trolls, Dementors, Hagrid, Giants, Shadow Devils, Imperia stones, Fletcher, Karkaroff dead, Dumbledore, deception, Magimorph, Sorcerer's war.  
  
The lines had now completely dissolved, even the teachers didn't seem to care, as they were all surrounding the fire.  
  
Merlin was still sitting on a rug, propped up with his arms, surrounded by most of the non-teachers in the room.  
  
"How did you know, you know, Moody was..." An inquisitive Ravenclaw asked in a insecure manner.  
  
"That doesn't matter," Merlin interrupted her abruptly and insensitively.  
  
"Well, what was that thing you did to..." said Liselle.  
  
"That's not relevant either, what does matter is you!" Merlin pointed towards Liselle angrily. He sounded furious, and there was a little vein throbbing on his forehead near the bruise. He got up frighteningly swiftly (considering he'd just been attacked by an unforgivable curse). He stormed over to Lily and towered over her (Lily was sitting down on the arm of a sofa, still holding the pensieve). Some of Lily's thoughts spilled out of the pensieve and onto the floor where they evaporated in an odd steam. Merlin wasn't particularly tall, but he looked bigger than usual now.  
  
"What do you think you were doing walking around with Sirius Black ? He's a damn criminal, you were consorting with the enemy, who do you think you are?" He sounded really enraged. He continued. "If I were McGonagall, I'd have you tied up in a corner. Honestly, you expect me to believe all this rubbish." Merlin pushed the pensieve out of Lily's hands, the thoughts spilled out onto the floor and steamed away.  
  
Lily looked offended, shocked and frightened, people looked like they wanted to calm Merlin down but they were all too frightened to do anything. The teachers were still gathered around the fire talking to Lupin.  
  
"How could you ever expect us to believe this, eh? A known criminal who killed thirteen people and a known Voldemort supporter turns goody two shoes and joins up to fight evil after escaping prison, and then, a fifteen year old boy and girl and the boy who lived team up with him and Dumbledore to save our souls. What do you think we are, Puffskeins? Now I can see something's wrong-" he gestured towards the window where Hogsmeade was still on fire, green flashes everywhere, an unnatural storm still raging, and occasional screams filling the air, "-but this-" he pointed to the upturned pensieve on the floor, "-this is trash."  
  
Lily looked visibly terrified and offended. Merlin stormed off in a huff and landed himself in a large armchair. People would have gone up to him if the expression on his face didn't suggest he'd chew them into little pieces.  
  
For what must have been over an hour, the teachers remained standing talking to Lupin. Liselle had picked up her pensieve and stored it somewhere, and everybody had begun talking, apart from Merlin who remained viciously sitting in his armchair like a time bomb. Although everyone (although not very vocally) disagreed with Merlin's behaviour, they had all begun to have doubts about Lily's story, even though Lily defended herself with regular references to the pensieve. It had got to the point that people were even beginning doubting whether anything Lily had said was true, and thought it might all be some elaborate joke.  
  
"She's telling the truth." Merlin had got up and was standing above the crowd accusing Lily. "There's definitely something wrong, it has begun." Merlin still sounded angry but calmer. "I'm sorry Lily." Merlin suddenly rolled into a long explanation and sat on an armchair, surrounded by intrigued listeners.  
  
"Sirius Black killed my uncle. He's a relative of mine. The ministry had sent their best wizards to find Black. They'd sent my uncle, Sirius's brother. They thought he might be able to turn him. My uncle cornered him in a street but Black threw a curse at him. Killed thirteen people, loads of Muggles too. He was my favourite uncle, always came to my parents house at Christmas, always bought fantastic presents. One time he bought some through-oculars for me, great fun."  
  
A little smile spread across Merlin's face and he continued, but in a grimmer tone.  
  
"And then Sirius killed him. Everyone in my family thought Sirius was a bad egg, always causing trouble. I sympathised with him, but after that, nothing could forgive that, but, I always wondered if it was a mistake, if perhaps it wasn't him."  
  
Merlin continued. "There are other things you need to know. Voldemort is a descendant of an evil wizard."  
  
Everybody shuddered at hearing Voldemort's name, several teachers turned round with worried looks on their faces but quickly turned back to the fire.  
  
"He was called Voldemortis, that's where Voldemort takes his name."  
  
A Ravenclaw boy responded. "Yes, I've heard that name before, erm, in a history lesson, wasn't he defeated by Merlin?"  
  
"Yes, he was, sort of. Merlin defeated him, but at a great loss. Merlin was one of the most powerful wizards ever." There was a note of pride in Merlin's voice. It was fairly common knowledge that Merlin was Merlin's great, great, great (and probably a few more greats) Grandfather.  
  
"Merlin had so much magic flowing through his blood, he would probably have lived forever, but killing Voldemortis had taken more from him than was commonly known. Voldemortis fired a curse at Merlin that would have killed a thousand powerful wizards. Merlin survived though, probably through a combination of his magical strength, and the fact that it only hit his arm."  
  
Merlin pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tiny blue speck on his right arm, where the face of his watch would've been. It was glowing slightly turquoise. Several people gasped and stood back.  
  
"Merlin was clever. He knew the curse was killing him, so he used the most complex and powerful magic he knew against it. He reversed its powers. For thirteen years, he used its power to make him stronger to fight it, but eventually, he knew it was going to kill him, so had a son to continue his work. All these generations later, his descendants still have this mark (he pointed towards just beneath his wrist). A few more generations and it probably won't be visible, but it'll still be there, it'll always be there. Merlin took measures to secure his future family from evil. He didn't know if Voldemortis had any offspring, but he wanted to make sure we were protected. When Voldemort rose, my family were safe, but Voldemort did all he could to break through, and he nearly did, but he never made it. Now I think he probably could. Voldemort got to my Grandfather just before he was stopped by Harry."  
  
Most people now looked shocked. This wasn't in any textbook. They all knew Merlin was a great wizard, but nobody ever really knew what had happened to him.  
  
"Merlin wrote hundreds of books, texts, potion manifests, alchemy scriptures. Most of them still belong to my family. I used to spend ages in our attic with the resident ghost reading them. One of them was a divination text. Some people say Merlin was the only true Divinator. The prophecy said something like this. On the thirteenth hour of the thirteenth month of the thirteenth year of Orion, Esit llhat sitromedloh fo riev htneetrihs rhe. Now, I worked it out, the thirteenth year of Orion is a term in astronomy, thirteen is the number of times the stars in the Orion constellation of circle the centre of the galaxy appearing to us. That was last year. I worked out the words too. It's a simple riddle, the first letters of the words are swapped around, the words are reversed, and the sentence is also reversed. You see, in those days, Muggles were even worse at riddles than wizards. Most of them couldn't even write, let alone read. It says The thirteenth heir of Voldemortis will rise. Now, I didn't even know who Voldemortis was then, so I didn't worry about it, and besides, there is no thirteenth month or thirteenth day. Loads of people say Merlin went mad and so I put it down to that. The thirteenth year of Orion had passed, so there was no reason to worry about it, but now I realise. Think about it, there are only twelve months, so the thirteenth month must be January of next year, and the thirteenth hour must be one o' clock. That was an hour ago."  
  
Everyone was very uncomfortable at this prospect. Was Voldemort the thirteenth heir of Voldemortis ?  
  
Suddenly, there was a whooshing noise. Everything went black. Several people screamed. Merlin, Liselle, and some others got up and lumos could be heard from several corners, but they needn't have bothered. As soon as they had risen, all the lights came back on again. Other than the storm, everything seemed normal. About nine people were standing up with their wands lit like torches. There was something missing though... All the teachers. There were a few hats lying around the unlit fireplace, including McGonagall's. People were shocked and frightened, where had the teachers gone? They obviously hadn't gone anywhere by will, and what was going to happen now? Everyone was at risk...  
  
Liselle stepped up and stood next to where Merlin was sitting and placed her hand on his shoulder. Her voice was steely, "The most important thing is not to panic, which considering the circumstances isn't going to be easy."  
  
Stopping mid-flow, she walked to the window where the magical storm seemed to be abetting. There was less octarine in the atmosphere and the fire that had engulfed much of Hogsmeade had subsided.  
  
"I don't know what we can do really, I do know though that the most important thing that we can do is stick together. If we don't stand as a team then we don't stand a chance, I know that the teachers and Dumbledore would expect it of us." A murmur of agreement rippled around the room as one by one all the students stood to join Liselle. They all held their wands out as they formed a circle around Merlin's chair. There was a humming sound as a shimmering mist enveloped the group and the room as a whole. This was magic at its most basic, raw and powerful, the conceptual joining of wands creates a field protecting all group members while they are together.  
  
"There, that should protect us while we try to formulate some idea."  
  
With a wave of her wand, Liselle conjured supper which was eaten wordlessly by her fellow students. Liselle took this chance to talk to Merlin, something that they hadn't had a chance to do since his attack. "Are you ok? That was really freaky stuff. We were really worried, take it easy for a while will you- we need you at full strength for what's ahead... oh yeah, when this is all done I challenge you to another game of chess." It was an in-appropriate time for a joke but it managed to raise a wry smile from Merlin. "You're on," he challenged. "Loser writes the next History of Magic assignment for the winner though!"  
  
"Agreed," Liselle grinned back. "Hope that you're ready though, I'm nothing but a straight A student so I'll be expecting great things from you!"  
  
No sooner had the words left her mouth that great things were expected of him, that they realised that great things were also expected of Liselle and Lily. Somehow they knew that they were the group's best chance of survival, between them they knew what was going on, or had a rough idea anyway, whereas the rest of the group didn't really have a clue. With the teachers gone, Lily had taken up a position to watch. Walking around the outside of the huddle of students... waiting... not knowing what she was waiting for... but nonetheless, waiting.  
  
With the most horrid blood-curdling scream imaginable the whole room shook. The fear on their faces cannot be described. So far the whole evening ran like a dream in their memories, the events all disjointed and mixed up in their minds. But that was about to be over. They were about to learn the truth.  
  
Liselle and Merlin ran to Lily. The three of them almost scared to death but they had to be strong for the others. They were their best hope. Lily whispered to them so quickly that they almost didn't catch what she said.  
  
"We have to protect the others at all cost. It's down to us. They can't all fight with us, we have to hide them. I'm thinking the Visalto charm. What do you think?"  
  
"On three?" came the shaky reply of Merlin.  
  
"Wait... wait. Isn't that like having a secret keeper? Can we really pull it off?"  
  
"It's our only chance. Most of these kids are first years and second years. They're too scared to do anything other than run!"  
  
Merlin put his arm around Liselle's shoulders. "We have to. On three. one... two... three..."  
  
Their three wand tips touched with a great flash of lilac. The light filled the room for only a few seconds. But something, or someone outside had seen it...  
  
And it came...  
  
The door burst open in a huge burst and with a flurry of smoke and light. They were Death Eaters, all completely cloaked in deepest black, gliding over the floor like fear personified. They really did look like they could eat death. Everyone screamed, but the Death Eaters didn't seem to notice, they just continued through the door. There must have been about six, but something happened. Three disappeared entirely, one collapsed in a pile of black cloak, another just fell through an invisible hole in the floor and was gone entirely. The remaining one stayed where he was, raised a gloved and heavily cloaked hand, and a creature, clothed almost exactly the same as him but in even longer, ragged robes that reeked of evil floated through the door. Unlike the Death Eater however, it was about ten foot tall and rattling menacingly, icy air bellowing from its extensive cloaks- but maybe they weren't cloaks, it might have been that the creature was composed of the cloaks. The only thing visible was one, thin, slimy, grey, long, wet, grey and scabbed hand. It was a Dementor, one of the most evil creatures known. They infested the darkest and dankest places, feeding on fear and misery. No one knew much about them, other than they drained life from any place they went, the epitome of evil and decay, grotesque in every sense, and one of Voldemort's closest allies. The Death Eater, who looked small when compared, strode forwards, almost elegantly, deadly elegantly, and looked around the room. He couldn't see the students, nor did he give any care for his fallen companions who had suffered the teachers' efforts to defend the group. The Dementor, however, was a different story. It glided towards the disguised group, looking, although it had no visible eyes. Its breath was intense and the most disturbing thing most of the group had ever heard. It swept round them, many people crying in distress.  
  
The Death Eater walked towards the evil being. "Cease, there is nothing here," he said in a cold and tainted voice.  
  
The Dementor, however, remained and raised its horrid hands to its hood, as if preparing to lower it, everyone turned away in fear.  
  
"I have told you there is nothing here, you will come with me or the master shall punish you. Come," the cold voice repeated. The creature floated backwards (at least it didn't turn, its front and back were barely distinguishable), away with the Death Eater through the door.  
  
There was a great sigh of relief. Everyone seemed to be ok, other than Merlin, who was on the floor, shaking.  
  
There had been a cold and foggy mist in the room which had now subsided, leaving it almost normal.  
  
Merlin gradually got up, helped by others, and pulled some chocolate out of his Honeydukes bag which he began to eat. He informed them chocolate helped counter the Dementor's effects. Some of the third, and fourth years already knew this, and Merlin began handing out chocolate. No one seemed dare ask why Merlin had collapsed.  
  
"It seems to have worked, everyone," said Merlin, with a note of relief in his voice. Now, what we have to do next is some very powerful and complicated magic. Some of you won't be able to do it, so it's going to be less powerful, but we older students will probably be able to pull it off if you concentrate hard enough. Now, the charm we have protecting us at the moment is good for the time being, but if we move out of this a certain area between us, it won't work, it'll wear off soon, and I reckon that Dementor could see through it. What we're going to do is the fidelius charm, but an even more complex version. Basically, all of us that can will entrust the locations of themselves, and those that can't perform the charm, with someone else. They will then, in turn, entrust their locations to those whose location they know, thus creating a very powerful defence, as long as you stick together."  
  
Some people seemed confused, but assured. About eight people began enacting the charm. Merlin, Liselle, Lily, two other Gryffindors, a Hufflepuff, and a Ravenclaw, did not have the charm entrusted on them. They had something to do.  
  
"I need to get two things. The prophecy I read says there are these two things that can help defend us, and I know how to get them- they're mine, but they're at Hogwarts," Merlin muttered.  
  
"What?" said Liselle intrigued. Lily and the others seemed to mimic this curiosity.  
  
"It'll only be worth telling you if we get there. But how are we going to do that? We wouldn't survive two minutes out there," replied Merlin. He pointed towards the storm that was gaining intensity, and the evil cackles, terrified screams, and newly raging fires coming from Hogsmeade.  
  
"I reckon they, they, they've got reinforcements," stuttered Neville.  
  
"Yes it looks like that, so how are we supposed to get to Hogwarts ?"  
  
As wasn't long before Merlin's enquiry was answered. Dobby came timidly running into the room.  
  
"Sir, sir," he said breathlessly. "Dobby knows sir, we can help you."  
  
The group stared down at Dobby inquisitively, Dobby answered quickly. "As house elves, we is knowing certain things, we is knowing secrets sir, special things, that house elves is needing to know. Normally, we is not supposed to say, but we is all in danger, graaave danger."  
  
A few more house elves, including Winky, who looked liked she had recently collapsed, popped their heads through the kitchen door.  
  
"What Dobby, what can you tell us?" inquired Liselle.  
  
"Well sirs, miss, there is things house elves is needing, to be good house elves, you know. We is having to get to places quickly, house elves is having lots to do, and we have to have special ways."  
  
"Yes, what Dobby ?" said Merlin  
  
"Shortcuts sir, tunnels sir. We is having tunnels and shortcuts everywhere sir. They is elf size though sir, but we is thinking that you could fit."  
  
"Excellent. Dobby, where are they ?" said Merlin excitedly, with new found enthusiasm.  
  
"They is in the kitchens sir, behind a cupboard, come sirs, misses, this way." Dobby wobbled in his little elfish run towards the kitchens, closely followed by Merlin, Liselle, Lily, and the rest of their group, and Neville.  
  
"I'm coming with you," he said. "Don't try and stop me."  
  
Actually, Neville sounded so petrified he might've wanted to be stopped, but he came along, and nobody tried to halt him. Dobby led them into the kitchen, in which about twenty house elves were staring and following, all around hundreds of pots and pans, and cupboards, tables, and barrels full of intriguing food stuffs. Dobby led them to a small fitted oak corner cupboard at the far side of the room. He opened the door to reveal stacks of plates and kitchenware. He quickly moved them out of the way to reveal a little elf sized hole. Dobby could stand up comfortably in it, and it was wide enough for about three elves to move in, like a little elf motorway. It was actually quite nice. It had wooden panelled walls, with little globes spaced evenly along the passage that were lighting it, and a very worn rustic floor of oak floorboards. It was big enough for Merlin, Liselle and Lily to crawl through.  
  
"Thanks Dobby!" said Merlin.  
  
Merlin, Liselle, Lily, the three Gryffindors, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff, clambered into the tunnel and set off. The rest of the sizeable crowd stayed put. It might not even be safe at Hogwarts, and their security was at least partially assured where they were. They did, however, remain ready to crawl through back to Hogwarts should their location become dangerous.  
  
It took quite a while, it must have been at least fifteen minutes, but eventually, they reached a little oak door. Merlin opened it, and the ten crawled out into the Hogwarts kitchen. Merlin had been impressed by the size of the kitchen in the party room, but this was unbelievable, a vast room, that seemed at least as big as The Hogwarts Great Hall.  
  
There were about ten levels, mostly situated around the edge of the room, going all the way up to the ceiling. It was bustling with elves, hundreds of elves, all moving around, some looking at the group that had just emerged from the door. They surrounded huge agas, cupboards, cauldrons, massive barrels full of vegetables, flours, sugar, sweets. Huge canisters full of liquids, containers of herbs. Huge bookcase-like shelves, which had little staircases up them, adorned the walls filled with all different varieties of fantastic foods, jam jars that took two elves to carry, huge cakes. Bottles in neatly stacked layers. Huge tables and cauldrons at elf level around which crowds of elves were gathered. Huge paddling pool sized sinks, some of which were sunken into the ground, were surrounded by busy elves washing and cleaning dishes and plates and glasses.  
  
Huge vessels of wine and drinks stood around the room, some of which were being topped up by several elves. Thousands of pots and pans and cooking implements were hung from the ceiling around the tables at different levels with little ladders round them for them to be taken down. A huge cake that needed about fifteen elves to carry, orange with fantastic decorations and moving flowers made out of icing adorning it, was being stored into a huge pantry.  
  
The ten, headed by Merlin moved to side door (the elves seemed to know they were coming and so didn't bother them too much, although they were offered cakes and biscuits and tea and drinks by several large groups.)  
  
They continued out the door through a dark passageway. Abruptly, Filch ran past in a corridor ahead. He seemed not to notice them, too busy to get where he was going.  
  
Suddenly, a white glow emerged from the wall beside them, Nearly Headless Nick. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost, terrified. He floated towards them with speed.  
  
"You lot, what an Earth are you doing here? It isn't safe, you should be in the Great Hall with all the other students. Good grief, come with me quickly," he exclaimed.  
  
"No sir Nicholas," Merlin replied firmly.  
  
"We're looking for something. Dumbledore, if he's ok, will understand. Tell him the Prophecy is fulfilled and we are going to The Crypt of The Ancients to get the artefacts. What's happened, where are the teachers? Some were with us in Hogsmeade but they just disappeared," said Merlin hastily.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine good boy. There are about sixteen teachers missing, including Dumbledore. Some of them heard of the trouble and came to find you. When I saw you, I presumed they were successful. There are only a handful of teachers in the school. They've rounded all the students into the Great Hall and they've sent an urgent escorted owl to the Ministry of Magic. They've recalled the Hogwarts Express, everyone's going home," replied Nearly Headless Nick urgently.  
  
"Right, just tell Dumbledore if you see him. He might have been captured, but somehow, I don't think he has. We've got to go Sir Nicholas, there are still about forty people in Hogsmeade. Tell the teachers to go and get them, say they can ask the house elves, they know a way."  
  
"Very well," said Nearly Headless Nick, slightly surprised and looking worried, he floated off quickly through a wall.  
  
No one knew where they were going apart from Merlin. He kept taking out his wand and casting unusual spells, muttering passwords, taking them down passages they'd never seen. Odd, secret corridors. He continued opening up walls, making certain objects disappear to reveal doorways and passages. They went up hundreds of steps, enough to make them sure they were near the very top of Hogwarts. This was all very surprising, Merlin didn't seem the type to know all this. He was a great student, descendant of Merlin, excellent at Quidditch (although he'd never tried out for the team), he sometimes did this weird thing with Snape, he could sort of shut him up just by looking at him. His past had always been a bit shrouded in mystery, they knew he and his family had had at least one encounter with Voldemort, but as far as they knew, they'd all survived (apart from his uncle, but they'd only just found that out). Like Dumbledore, Merlin had never seemed too frightened of saying Voldemort's name, much to the admiration of everyone else, and he was acquainted with Dumbledore, but Dumbledore always came across as the type of person who'd be friends with anyone if they had the courage to say hello to him, but other than that, Merlin was pretty normal.  
  
After what seemed like a very fascinating twenty minutes of secret passages, some of which looked as if they hadn't been touched for centuries, some of which were lavishly decorated and carpeted, some grand halls they'd never been in. All were totally deserted. They emerged in a smallish room with impressive mahogany doors with brass handles, carpeted with a very pleasant royal blue and elegantly panelled. There was a roaring fire at one side, a high up window at the other showing they were definitely very high up, and a large gold model of a sleeping lion on a grand platform directly in front of them. As soon as they entered the room. The lion (which was bigger than any normal lion), rose to its feet, towering above the group. It was very beautiful, in pure gold, with a huge swishing tail and mane, and ivory teeth. It had rubies for eyes, and looked like it could swallow them all in one gulp into its huge gold stomach if it had wanted to. It stood on all fours on its plinth, looking deadly and aggressive, yet strong and calm, curious and suspicious of its visitors (who, by the expressions on their faces, were also very wary of it, and were very unsure of what Merlin was leading them into, but Merlin looked confident and, like he had done when he was annoyed with Lily, looked bigger than usual.)  
  
Merlin went right up to the lion who discreetly bared its powerful ivory teeth. Much to the astonishment and fear of the ten, it assumed a posture as if it was about to attack, but it didn't, but looked down at Merlin in a superior way (who was now right in front of it) and opened its huge mouth. The ten recoiled in fear, a few readying themselves to help Merlin, as it looked suspiciously like it was going to just put its huge jaws over him and eat him whole, but rather, it growled, in a very deep and dangerous, yet calm and prestigious voice,  
  
"You come to seek the Crypt of the Ancients. Before you may enter, you must prove your worth, tell of the password, and state your intention." Its voice boomed and roared round the room, like it was coming from all around them, in its deep, growling yet controlled, growling and oddly calming voice.  
  
"I seek the saviours of the second age, the prophecy of the ancient Sage. I come to take them from the crypt, as the ancient texts depict."  
  
The lion growled restrainedly, its ruby eyes flashing. Merlin rolled up his sleeve and showed the lion the glowing blue spot on his wrist. The lion growled gently once again, with a very subtle yet approving nod, its eyes still looking very dangerous, the crowd still huddled at the back of the room...  
  
Merlin then began to say some very long words that sounded like a mix between Latin and ancient Wizard tongue. When he'd finished, the lion softened its look, its eyes became much less dangerous and it bowed down like a servant, closing its eyelids quite humbly. It then began to open its mouth, a deafening growling noise filled the room. Its mouth was now becoming unnaturally open, even for its great size. It was strange, the lion's mouth was backing up on its own body. There were looks of disgust and intrigue from the crowd behind them, as the mouth lost its features and gradually morphed into a huge, perfect golden ring, which settled back flat onto the ground, engulfing the lion (or more the lion and its mouth had become the opening), leaving a large circular opening in the middle of the room, rimmed with a huge golden circle. Merlin beckoned to the others to follow, and they came up to him cautiously. The huge golden rim led down to an elegant spiral mahogany staircase with no banister, just flat mahogany stairs, perfectly polished around a huge cylindrical mahogany core, spiralling downwards. They could only see about twenty steps down before the wide stairs spiralled out of view. There were brass trimmings on the walls, but nothing else. The crowd cautiously followed Merlin down the staircase. There were no lights down there, but it was lit like daylight. As the last person entered the hole, there was a morphing sound and the golden seal closed the entrance. Presumably, the lion was now sitting above again. This unnerved several people, worried about how they might get out again, but they didn't say anything.  
  
It seemed like hours that they walked down the staircase, Liselle pointed this out. "Where are we going? When are we going to get there, we've been going down for ages. We must be below the dungeons now."  
  
"No, we haven't been going down for ages," retorted Merlin.  
  
"What? Well it seems like we have to me," she replied.  
  
"What I meant, is that we haven't been going down, we've been going up. It's a trick you see. The staircase goes downwards, but we're actually going up, further into the tower."  
  
Astonished, people began to contemplate this, but said nothing more. After about ten more minutes, they arrived in another, circular room, but this one was predominantly stone and marble. As Merlin had said, they had been going up, as there was a very high up set of windows, showing glimpses of the sky.  
  
There was a floating turquoise globe, about the size of a global map of the world. It seemed to be made out of some vibrant bluey-green jewel, perfectly shaped into a sphere. Around it was an elegant mahogany counter that was suspended from the ceiling by five impressive curving brass beams, at the centre of which was a gold edged, perfectly polished, glass skylight indicating that they were definitely at the top of some sort of domed tower. The circular counter was countersunk with twelve perfectly oval, brass edged and diamond encrusted wells, eleven of which contained beautiful, perfect amber ovids, about the size of someone's palm. The insides were swirling gently in elegant amber patterns, like a particularly beautiful evening sky's clouds were captured in them. Merlin went and picked up one of them, meaning there were now two gaps, and beckoned everyone over.  
  
"Right, now on my mark, we all have to touch the gem in the middle ok?"  
  
Everyone nodded. Merlin slipped the amber ovoid in his pocket and counted down, "Three, two, one, now."  
  
They all touched the blue globe, and there was a sudden whooshing sound. The globe remained fairly constant, but it was dissolving fast as the background around them swirled away at great speed, like they were spinning very fast through hundreds of landscapes. The globe was a Portkey.  
  
They emerged in a truly vast room, but before they could take it all in, they realised something was wrong. Now, only Merlin, Lily, Neville and Liselle were there, the others had gone.  
  
"Oh no, where are they? Are they ok?" said Lily, shocked. Neville seemed to concur (although he was still recovering from the encounter with the golden lion.)  
  
"Yes, they're ok, they're probably in the Great Hall with everyone else," replied Merlin. Liselle and Lily didn't quite seem to understand why, but trusted Merlin when he said they were ok.  
  
The room they were in was like a vault, full of fascinating things. Gold, odd contraptions, buzzing and whirring. Things were flying around above them. The room extended out of view. It was truly huge, and well lit, although that was probably from the glow and reflection of all the gold objects in the huge vault. There were massive shelves full of items, hundreds of doors obviously leading to other rooms in huge circular areas. Towering marble walls dwarfed the four, and huge oak and mahogany beams that looked as if they couldn't have come from any normal tree, rimmed the room. There were huge shelves, full of glistening gold objects, platinum, silver, jewel encrusted things, some artefacts that looked familiar, like swords or goblets maps pieces of armour, and some things that looked completely out of place and useless, like a little old wooden box, a tattered trunk, and old cauldron with a hole in the bottom. They passed countless wonders, some of which seemed to think they were just as fascinating, a huge domed library-like room containing over six levels with strong, gold trimmed ladders connecting them, holding thousands of neatly arranged wands. Some fine and elegant, all different sizes, some old and broken. They passed several more vast rooms containing what had to be millions of similarly fantastic things, and un-fantastic looking things like an old black bike (although it was floating). There were glowing things, dark looking things, things that stared back, endless towers of books. They passed one small room, like the wand room, but containing level- upon-domed level of tiny mahogany draws, obviously containing other amazing creations and items. Eventually, Merlin guided them into a small carpeted room, separated from the others by means of a large oak door with a brass knocker. The door had just opened and let him in. The room was like a reception room, but with no seats. There was a large mahogany door (that had no handle) opposite the entrance door. Other than that, the only fantastic thing in the room was its elegant form and decor, and a chandelier that seemed to have not candles, but miniature stars as lights, that were orbited by little planets, which were in turn, orbited by tiny moons. The entrance door closed behind them promptly, much to Neville's dismay, but this all seemed like something that had to be done to Merlin. In the brief seconds that it took Merlin to go to the next door, the bewildered, and utterly overwhelmed four had time to contemplate what wonders they had just seen, as they had been too overcome to ask Merlin where they were.  
  
They had seen enough wonders to occupy a million life times, and that was just in the few areas they had darted past, they were sure there was a thousand, thousand times more to this place then what they had seen. Merlin looked as if he'd been here before though.  
  
"What is this place? Where are we? Have you been here before?" asked a breathless Liselle.  
  
"We are in the Crypt of the Ancients, although not everything here's that ancient. I can't tell you where we are, but I couldn't do even if I wanted to because I don't know. I've never been here before, but I've read about it ancient scriptures."  
  
That response, if anything, had only added to the wonder of the place. The four vaguely recorded Merlin saying something, and out of the corners of their fascinated eyes (which were still darting around even this tiny room), saw him tap his wand on the door.  
  
"We're in, come with me," he said.  
  
They all followed. They entered a similarly proportioned room, although it was slightly darker. The walls were lined with bookcases and cupboards and glass cases, containing very elegant and incredibly well crafted items. One of which, on a tiny mahogany table, seemed to be a globe of the Earth. It had a magnifier attached to it, with a little dial on the side. Liselle went up to it. The globe even showed the moving clouds in the sky, and the tides of the sea. She looked into the magnifier and twiddled the dial. The magnifier slowly moved in towards the Earth, going through the clouds, past a flock of birds and into a city. By looking out of the magnifier onto the globe and looking at the land, she could tell this was England. She was looking at a city in England! Moving closer in, the houses and roofs began to take shape, she could see a river nearby, and the moving buses, even tiny moving people, and right down to the cracks in the pavement. She zoomed out again, and gently turned another dial on the magnifier, moving the image left, and zooming out to get a better view. It was London, she was watching a live image of London! She could see Diagon Alley, this globe obviously showed areas magically concealed from Muggles too. She could see that there were also a few other dials, including one labelled 'time'. Fascinated, she realised she could see back in time. But before she could do anything else, Merlin had called them all over to a set of draws and a small cupboard risen on a cylindrical podium in the centre of the room. He put his wand in a little tube-shaped opening, and the cupboard swung open. Merlin's face was lit up with a dazzling blue glow. He pulled something, very gently, out of the cupboard. The item was set in a little wooden gap lined with purple satin and velvet, with symbols and runes engraved all over it in gold. The symbols seemed to be moving. It was a golden snitch, like those used for Quidditch, but it was far different from any other snitch. It contained a perfect spherical turquoise blue gem in the middle, surrounded by a rim of gold engraved symbols, and beautiful patterns. The snitch had taken out its delicate wings and was flapping, but wrapped them away as Merlin put the snitch in his pocket. He took his wand out of the opening, and put it in another one, the doors opened to reveal the hilt of a grand gold and silver sword. Merlin pulled out the sword. It was glowing gold, and encrusted with fantastic jewels. He swished it from side to side, a gold sparkling mist swept from it. He muttered something, and stowed the sword in his robes. The four looked on, intrigued.  
  
"Oh, if you were wondering why the others didn't come here, it's because the globe only admitted those who were the truest Gryffindors of the group. So be proud of yourselves."  
  
They had nearly forgotten about the globe back in the marble room at the top of the tower but were fascinated nonetheless by this nugget of information. Neville just looked confused and utterly flabbergasted.  
  
Merlin patted his chest where the sword was. "This is much more than a sword, it will endow the one who holds it with incredible powers, but only if that holder is an heir of Merlin. Otherwise, it's just a normal sword," he explained. He the patted the pocket holding the snitch. "This is the Eye of Merlin. It is an orb possessed of even greater power and mystery. Nobody knows exactly what it does, but I have read about some of its basic powers in Merlin's texts. I can't tell you just now though. It is placed within this snitch so it may defend itself, move away from danger, and not rouse suspicion This particular room in the crypt is Merlin's vault. It contains some of his greatest creations. These are the ones we need though." Merlin had a note of finality in his voice. "Now we've got what we need, we have to go."  
  
There were mixed feelings about this. This was a truly fascinating place and seemingly very safe, and no-one really wanted to leave, but there were no objections nonetheless. Merlin went up to a circular counter, much like the one in the marble room in the tower. It had twelve edifices, one of which already contained a swirling amber ovoid.  
  
"Now, you have to hold this ovoid with me ok?" Merlin put the cloudy ovoid into the space next to the already filled one. There was a flash of light beneath it. "Alright, now."  
  
They all touched the ovoid. It was obviously another Portkey. They felt themselves being hurled through the air and spinning through landscapes until, slightly dizzy, they landed in a pleasant circular room, containing portraits of several sleeping people. There was a tall man with a long silver beard standing in the middle of the room, almost as if he was expecting them. Dumbledore.  
  
"Professor, you're ok !" Lily exclaimed, it looked as if she was going to lurch forward and hug him. But Lily thought better of it.  
  
"I trust you have the orb and sword," Dumbledore said pleasantly to Merlin.  
  
"Yes professor." Merlin handed Dumbledore the sword and the little snitch.  
  
"I suppose you're wondering what has happened?" said Dumbledore calmly. Everyone seemed to agree, apart from Merlin who, by the look on his face, already knew.  
  
"That was a diversion. We have known for some time now that Voldemort was planning his first strike at Hogsmeade. We were able to evacuate most of the inhabitants in time, and a little more-" Merlin nodded, no-one else knew what this meant though, "-whilst the Order of the Phoenix was fighting those Death Eaters. As I can see, you have already guessed the truth. That was not myself, nor Mr Potter, nor, in fact, any of the Order involved in the fighting. We wanted to provide a target too tempting for Voldemort's servants to resist. What better way than bringing him the one who had been his previous downfall, and me. Those were Magimorphs, given the appearance of myself, Mr Potter and the others, but were not. They are created using a mixture of complex alchemy, potions and incredibly powerful magic. Hopefully, Voldemort will try to kill them all. They cannot speak and suffer no pain- they are just images, nothing more. So don't worry," he added, spotting Lily, Neville and Liselle's horrified faces. "When he tries that, all the magic used to create them will move against evil and attack Voldemort, draining him of some of his powers. That should weaken him. If he doesn't do it within a few hours, they will simply dissolve into nothingness."  
  
The Merlin, Liselle, Lily and Neville seemed to agree that this was a good plan.  
  
"Now, I must thank you for your help, and ask you to go down to the Great Hall, your party friends from Hogsmeade have also been safely retrieved. The danger is still great, and so you will be taken to your homes on the Hogwarts Express with Ministry escort."  
  
Dumbledore moved to the door of his office, opened it, and smiled as they filed down to the Great Hall.  
  
"Wait a minute," said Liselle. "Didn't you say only an heir of Merlin can use that sword you gave Dumbledore properly? What's he supposed to do with it?"  
  
Merlin looked at Liselle and smiled slightly. Liselle seemed to understand. They continued to the Great Hall where there was still a great air of panic as people were separated into their houses.  
  
It wouldn't be long before more mysterious, exciting, and deadly things were happening... What a party this was turning out to be!  
  
Liselle gave Merlin a questioning look and seemed to accept what his cryptic look earlier had implied. The walk to the Great Hall seemed to stretch to infinitum, down seemingly endless stretches of stone corridor.  
  
Inside the great hall the fear and the tension were palpable, scared first years huddled together and a magnificent supper lay almost un-touched on the tables (almost unheard of for Hogwarts students!)  
  
The few remaining teachers were trying to take control of the situation but worry was plainly etched on their pale faces. Dumbledore appeared at the head of the hall, cleared his throat and immediately all eyes were drawn to him, ears open to hear his explanation of the situation.  
  
"Students, as you know there has been a marked increase in activities of Voldemort and his supporters, the most recent being earlier this evening in the local village. Young Merlin here tells me that the Death Eaters have been joined in their hideous activities by the Dementors."  
  
A ripple of terror wound its way around the room. Dumbledore rose his hand to quell the noise and continued. "The Hogwarts express is ready and waiting to bring you speedily home, your parents have been notified. You will leave immediately." Looking at Liselle and Merlin he added, "There will be no exceptions."  
  
Aghast, Liselle grabbed Merlin by the shoulder and hissed, "We can't leave, not now." As he had been doing for the last few hours, Merlin continued to look and act cryptically much to Liselle's disgust.  
  
Less than half an hour later Lily, Neville, Merlin and Liselle were gathered in the rear compartment of the Hogwarts Express. Merlin had said nothing for some time which for him was rather strange. Neville looked like he was about to cry and Lily was clutching her wand tightly in her wand hand. Liselle was staring out the window into the night when the whole train jolted.  
  
Disrupted from her thoughts, Liselle pulled her wand from her cloak pocket. The train continued as though nothing had happened, however Merlin was holding his head tenderly in his hands. Liselle crouched beside him in a concerned fashion. He was wincing in pain.  
  
"What is it?" she asked quietly.  
  
"This is going to sound crazy but I feel like there's someone is my head, shouting directions at me, its telling me that the four of us have to get off of this train, its part of the prophecy."  
  
"Take some chocolate," Liselle advised.  
  
Ten minutes later the four were standing at the edge of the forbidden forest.  
  
The moon, set high in the starry night sky shone down on them, illuminating their scared faces. The tall trees swished and wailed eerily ahead of them. The forest was forbidden for a reason, and those reasons were ones that Neville, at least, was not keen on entering the deep forest.  
  
Liselle, gazed wordlessly ahead. A determined look crossed her face as she said, "Merlin, you know there's a chance we won't come out of here alive. It's one thing to try to put the world to right but it's another not to know what we're going in there to look for. Tell me you know what you're doing."  
  
"I can't, I don't know what's lying in wait for us. All I know is that this is what the prophecy foretold. We are doing the right thing, believe it or not. I can feel it." Merlin replied, determinedly. Neville looked at him in awe, but remained silent.  
  
Suddenly a piercing shriek shot through the silence. A rustling in the woods nearby alerted the four's attention. Instinctively their wands raised, ready to defend themselves, and fight.  
  
Memories rushed through Neville's mind of the last time he'd been in the Forbidden Forest. He'd encountered many strange creatures, most of which he wished never to encounter again. Judging by the rushed footsteps that were moving towards them however, his wish wouldn't be granted. His wand arm stiffened as they all prepared charms and hexes in their heads.  
  
There was a flash of bright colour ahead of them, and a human form rushing towards them from the woods halted them in their tracks. Rather than a bizarre and dangerous creature from the Forest, it was a girl- a Hogwarts student.  
  
Bright red hair encircled her face, that was muddy and tear streaked. Her long robes were ripped and her arms were scratched and blood covered. She collapsed at their feet and sobbed manically.  
  
Completely taken aback, Liselle, knelt down and confronted the girl. Although almost unrecognisable with blood and dirt, Liselle knew who is was. Abi Weasley, Ron's sister. She was a Ravenclaw, unlike the rest of the Weasley family, so Merlin, Liselle, Lily and Neville didn't know her very well, being undoubtedly Gryffindors.  
  
Merlin knelt down beside Liselle and spoke to Abi. "What's happened? What are you doing here? You're meant to be on the Hogwarts Express."  
  
"I... I... I know about what's happening with Voldemort! I know about the Prophecy! I have to stop it! Everyone's in so much danger... Harry... Ron... I've seen them! The Death Eaters! They're in there!" She fiercely wiped at the tears falling from her eyes and pointed into the forest.  
  
"There are Death Eaters in there?" Lily asked tentatively. "They did this to you?"  
  
Abi nodded. "I can't do it alone... I need help-"  
  
"That's what we're here for, we're living the Prophecy," Merlin told Abi sternly. "You shouldn't have tried this alone. Maybe you should go back up to the castle, Madam Pomfrey's still there I believe."  
  
"No. I'm coming with you. I'm going to finish what I started out to do. We'll rid this place of Voldemort!" she cried as Neville flinched at the very name, a flicker of strength and determination present in her voice.  
  
"Well, you all know what we have to do..." Merlin said, returning his gaze to the thick mass of trees ahead of them...  
  
It was dark, deadly dark. Only the moon outlined the five figures as they stepped through the wood. They could here screams, not of pain, but of laughter, coming from inside the forest. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Brief, horrible, bracing vibrations. Suddenly, something cold and foul smelling swept across Merlin's face. Neville, Liselle, Lily and Abi stared around as Merlin fell to the ground in agony, the ground still shaking deviously, laughter still coming from deep within the forest, a flash of light, they fell to the floor.  
  
"Wake up !"  
  
It was Liselle. They were in the back of the Hogwarts Express. They'd just emerged from a tunnel, and Neville and Lily were laughing and playing Gobstones on the floor. Merlin wiped his hand across his face, it was wet. He'd been squirted by a stray Gobstone, but he was sweating profusely.  
  
"Do you want to play, you fell asleep when we entered that tunnel," said Liselle.  
  
"Er, no, it's ok. I was having a dream, we were all in the forbidden forest, and we met this girl, Abi Weasley," replied Merlin, who was still a bit sleepy.  
  
"Abi Weasley, never heard of her. All the Weasleys are in Gryffindor, and Ron would have told me if he had two sisters."  
  
"I know, but, oh forget it. You know, I was having this horrible dream before that. Voldemort had risen up again, and, well, when I was young, I read this prophecy in one of our family's old scripts, you know, Merlin's, and it depicts the re-rising of the Dark Lord's heir, and it says what has to be done will be done, and I knew I was a part of it and everything, so I had to go to this crypt place..."  
  
Liselle was beginning to look a bit uncomfortable.  
  
"Oh never mind," said Merlin.  
  
"But that's just happened, that's no dream," replied Liselle, disturbed slightly.  
  
"Oh God no, I must have been hoping it wasn't real so much that I deluded myself into thinking I imagined it, humph." Merlin slumped in is chair and looked out the carriage window. "So we really are being taken home because it's too dangerous."  
  
"'Fraid so," muttered Liselle.  
  
Merlin peered right up to the window again. He could now see about four dragons flanking the train, being ridden by about six Ministry officials each. He could also see slight ripples in the scenery which he gathered must have been other beasts that had been made invisible for the journey. There were also about fifty neatly cloaked wizards and witches, all wearing the same uniform purple cloaks, gliding along beside the train on broomsticks. He turned his head round to look at the compartment door. There were two Madgeloi (a smaller and more intelligent version of the aggressive mountain troll, originating in France. Dwarf like when compared to their close relatives, standard mountain trolls, but still sizeable to a human at an impressive eight foot. The Madgelon (pronounced "Maj-gel-on", or plural "Maj-ell-oh-ee".), have a more elegant build than the mountain troll, and can readily converse (if not somewhat simplistically) with humans, they do however, tend to talk very little, and like their relatives, prefer to simply grunt and point. They carry large clubs, and are actually much more effective mountain trolls in combat, due to their smaller size, they can perform their deadly attacks with great speed and power, and one Madgelon can easily defeat a mountain troll, especially when coupled with its higher intelligence. The Madgeloi are by nature, grumpy and stern, but only aggressive to those who they are employed to oppose. They are excellent guards, but demand pay for their work, unlike trolls, who will work for food, or if tamed properly for free. They are, however, incredibly loyal, and will die valiantly to protect those how they have been assigned to defend. This very rarely happens though, as Madgeloi can normally finish off anything that opposes them within a few seconds, as they have just as much strength as a full troll. They are preferred, however, as guardians to trolls in respectable areas as they will perform their duty to the word, whereas trolls tend to grunt and become bored if they don't fight anything for a long period of time, and have been known to wander off. End care of Magical creatures lesson). The Madgeloi were guarding the entrance to their compartment, and every now and then, a couple of purple clad ministry officials would walk back and forth up the corridors, as well as a teacher every now and then. The edges of the doors and windows were also glowing very slightly, as if some charm had been put on the train to protect it.  
  
About five minutes later, Mr Galloway, an astronomy professor, entered their compartment, closely watched by the Madgeloi, who had insisted he tell them a password and prove his identity before he entered.  
  
"Er, hello everyone. I've just come to inform you that the train will be departing the tracks in about five minutes, so don't be alarmed."  
  
Nobody understood this, but they all agreed by means of consenting nods, and Mr Galloway left the compartment, closely eyed by the two Madgeloi.  
  
"What does he mean, leave the tracks?" said Merlin. There were empty looks from the other three. What seemed like only a moment later, there was a huge jolt. The train rocked violently, rolling all of Neville's Gobstones out of place and causing them to squirt him violently.  
  
The train tilted up wards with a jolt. Everyone thought they'd crashed. The four ran to the window and to their amazement, saw that the train had indeed left its tracks. It was flying away from them, dragons and escorts close by.  
  
An hour or so later, the four were still a bit shaken at this, even more so by the fact that Neville had just disappeared. Professor Atlasia Glob, the plump and eccentric Geography of Magic teacher, had come in to inform them that the students were being passively Apparated to their homes when the train passed near them. She proceeded to offer them some brightly coloured transparent toffees that were violently attempting to escape the bag, which the three remaining politely refused, and bumbled happily away, stumbling at the doorway, much to the suspicion of the Madgeloi.  
  
Lily was next to go, and disappeared when she could see her house in the distance. She bid the two farewell and with an abrupt pop, was gone. Liselle and Merlin however, remained on the train, not noticing their homes pass by. Eventually, the train landed with a thud and rolled deep underground. Lights lit up in the compartment, and it looked like the escort was pursuing them above ground. The train seemed to rise slightly and then gradually pulled to a halt in what looked like an underground station of some sort. Merlin stared out of the window. They were below Kings Cross at an underground platform of some sort. He looked over the platform towards what looked like an underground street, complete with its own old candle street lights. There were a few people bustling around outside, all of whom looked like Ministry officials. Liselle had now joined Merlin at the window. They both stared over the pleasantly dimly lit platform and underground streets to see a sign which bore the words in swirly gold jewelled lettering,  
  
"Platform 9 ¼."  
  
Both were shocked. 9 ¼? The door to their compartment opened softly. A tall man was standing there in a red and blue patterned cloak. Dumbledore. His blue eyes were twinkling kindly behind his half moon spectacles, and he looked like he was about to explain...  
  
Liselle looked quizzically at Merlin. The train was student free apart from the two of them. Immediately she launched into a barrage of questions  
  
"Why are we here, what's happening, why aren't we at platform 9 ¾?"  
  
Dumbledore held up his hand to quell her stream of questions. In an unusually grave tone of voice he began to speak, looking at Merlin he began. "Mr Carter, you know some but not all of what I'm about to explain, please both of you don't interrupt me until I'm finished. You both know how you have got here, Mr Carter as a direct descendant of Merlin himself you know that it has fallen to you to fulfil the prophecy."  
  
At this Merlin turned a whiter shade of pale and nodded. Dumbledore continued "As for you Ms Lafelle, when it comes to you I am slightly confused. Usually such prophecies require pure blooded wizards and nothing of this sort has occurred in your family before. You both have been chosen to fulfil the obligations set out in the Merlin Prophecies......you cannot fight this nor should you undertake it lightly but know this, I have complete confidence in your abilities as witch and wizard as well as your friendship which will be tested to its limits as you take up your challenge."  
  
Liselle and Merlin looked at the floor in silence, Dumbledore continued to speak but in a less grave tone. "To answer your questions, Liselle, about this platform. this is used by the Department of Mysteries for their most sensitive travel requirements and assignments. Tonight you will both stay in the sister inn of the Leaky Cauldron, the Dripping Keg. I will return to visit you both in the morning to inform you of what is to happen next.  
  
Half an hour later, Liselle and Merlin were sitting at either side of a lavish supper which neither of them were eating. Liselle was picking at her food in an absent minded fashion and Merlin wasn't even pretending to do anything with his food.  
  
"What do you know that I don't?" Liselle whispered quietly.  
  
Merlin merely shook his head and stood up, "You know as much as I do. I'm going to bed now, I advise you to do the same. This may be the last proper night sleep we get for quite a while." And with that he was gone leaving Liselle alone at the table more confused than before.  
  
The next morning, Liselle and Merlin met up in the lobby of the Dripping Keg. They got the idea that the Dripping Keg was a Ministry only affair as most of the guests there were dressed in smart purple robes and emerald uniforms. The pub was also much smarter in design that of the Leaky Cauldron but lacked its sister's cosy charm. It was more like a Ministry elite club if anything. The Leaky Cauldron was actually quite a large pub, although you wouldn't guess from its fascia. The Dripping Keg however was the opposite. It seemed huge and lavish inside, yet was actually quite modest in scale. The lobby was a large(ish) circular room decked with deep purple drapes and with an impressive glossy marble floor. An imposing sweeping staircase was the central feature, flanked on either side by large curved marble topped desks, capped with little gold bells. Liselle seemed rather disturbed by being thrust into some sort of prophecy. The two had received letters on smartly stamped pieces of parchment in the morning informing them that they should meet up at three o' clock in the morning, meaning they only had about five hours sleep. Merlin was already in the lobby when Liselle came down. She was quick to enquire what on Earth was going as he seemed a little calmer with the situation. She began as she was coming down the stairs.  
  
"If you know anything about what's going on here, please tell me."  
  
Merlin looked a bit shocked at Liselle's abruptness, but he nevertheless replied. "I don't know exactly, but I know that Merlin wrote some sort of prediction. I haven't read all of it, I only have one piece, but if Merlin wrote it then I'm pretty sure it'll happen, whatever it might be," he responded, to Liselle's disbelieving and slightly frightened and surprised face.  
  
"Look, what if I refuse, I think I've had quite enough excitement for one day. What if I don't want to be a part of some weird prophecy written hundreds of years ago, what if I just sit around and do nothing, I don't want to be messed around by someone even if it is Dumbledore. I have a choice you know and I'd rather be at home with my family than in some weird hotel in London. Dumbledore has no right to drag us away."  
  
Merlin was a bit surprised at this reaction, Liselle was normally more calm and controlled, but she never did seem like the kind of person who was willing to be bossed around against her will, even if the one doing the bossing was possibly the greatest wizard of modern times.  
  
"Well, I can only tell you what I know."  
  
Liselle had come down the stairs now and stood next to Merlin at the side of the lobby where he began to explain.  
  
"It's all rather complicated, but what I can gather, from what I've read, is that Merlin wrote some scripts hundreds of years ago that told of the rebirth of his arch-nemesis's heir, Voldemortis, whose descendant, Tom Riddle, from what I can guess, is Voldemort. Merlin wrote seven scripts I think. I have read one, the one which belongs to my immediate family. It's the first one, and it depicts among other events that took place yesterday that we didn't see; Voldemort's rising, his first attacks, the re-visiting of the Crypt of The Ancients, the collection of the two that would fight him, that was the sword and the gemstone we collected, their deliverance to Dumbledore, and the selection of the chosen five. Now the chosen five have to fulfil some sort of quest to help combat Voldemort. My chapter tells me that much. I'm pretty sure Dumbledore has at least one chapter, and I'd bet he's seen most of them. Each of the six surviving families of Merlin have one chapter of it. It's very cryptic and full of riddles and obscure metaphors and hidden meanings, so you can't always take everything that it says at face value, but I've managed to understand what's happened so far. It depicts Voldemort's first reign as well, and his falling by Harry Potter, but when I was old enough to read it, all that had already happened, this is the interesting stuff. The chosen ones were selected because of a mixture of the fact that had special qualities and that they were in the right place at the right time. I'm not sure, but I get the idea that us two are both one of the five. It doesn't say what the challenge is, it ends there and the next chapter belongs to the next family. The really odd thing is, no family has the last chapter. There are six 'Merlin' families, but seven chapters. No-one's even sure if Merlin ever wrote the last chapter, but most think it's just lost. There was only one thing that was told about the challenge in the prophecy, it was this "The five shall be chosen, and much they shall learn, but one thing is sure, only three shall return." That's the most worrying thing about it."  
  
He paused for a moment. Liselle looked like she was going to be sick.  
  
"But like I said, never take it at face value, and you know Dumbledore, they all say Merlin was even madder than he is, in an interesting sort of way, you know what I mean."  
  
Liselle wasn't convinced, that seemed pretty final, only three shall return. By the look on his face, remembering this little fact didn't make Merlin feel any easier about it.  
  
Merlin was continuing rapidly, but before he could finish, Dumbledore strode into the lobby, still wearing starry night robes under his cloak, a pair of fluffy blue earmuffs and a bobbled night-cap.  
  
"Good morning both of you," Dumbledore interjected brightly and happily.  
  
Merlin stared patronisingly at the nearby window that framed a deep, cauldron black night.  
  
"I suppose you're both wondering why you're hear, so I thought I'd pop down to explain. I would imagine Mr Carter has explained to you some of the complexities of this situation." He directed this at Liselle. "But you have to understand that that is not why you're here. I'm afraid I don't have the authority, nor would I want, to keep you away from your families or place you in unnecessary danger, I am obliged, however, to protect Hogwarts students during the term, and as term has not yet ended, that is why you are here."  
  
Liselle threw an inquisitive look at Merlin, he responded with a blank expression and a shrug, why did they need protecting, surely they'd be better off at home.  
  
"I have to inform you that both of your families have volunteered to help combat this rather unfortunate situation that has arisen. We were therefore forced to bring you here, to this concealed station for your protection whilst other arrangements could be made. Mr Carter, I am pleased to inform you that your great great Uncle has volunteered to care for you whilst your parents are busy resolving this situation."  
  
Merlin dashed a smile at Dumbledore who smiled back kindly. Then he continued, "Liselle, your Grandmother has a place for you. I must tell you however, that these positions are only possibilities, you haven't been brought to The Department of Mystery's transport operations centre for no reason. The prophecy you have heard about plays an important part here. If the prophecy is true, and I must stress that Merlin has never produced a known false prediction, then you two have something to do. No matter how much either of you convince yourselves you will not do what the prophecy requires of you, you will do it, as it has been foretold that you shall, and the event's prediction is in itself an integral part of the prophecy."  
  
This was all very confusing and neither two seemed to absorb the concept properly.  
  
"I cannot assure your safety, but your acceptance of the future can only settle your minds if this prophecy proves to be true, and help you perform the tasks that lie ahead. I therefore ask you if you will agree to fulfil this prediction, although bear in mind that even if you refuse, it is almost certain you will end up completing it irrelevant of your decision now."  
  
Both agreed, although Liselle with a somewhat reluctant tone, it seemed she didn't want to agree that some ancient wizard had foretold her future.  
  
"Excellent, but first, as I'm sure Mr Carter has told you, I will need to introduce you to the other members of your group. Now, no-one knows why it is you five who are the chosen ones, but I can assure you that the reasons will become clear as your tasks progress. I fear endorsing some venture with four fifteen year olds may put you in danger, but I can only be loyal to the predictions of a greater man."  
  
Dumbledore said nothing about only three of the five returning and set off through a large doorway, leading the two down a passage what they presumed was some sort of underground office. A tall, thin, pointy-faced woman in long, flowing indigo robes met them there. She was wearing a suitably thin pair of small spectacles and looked rather like a librarian. She was taller than Dumbledore and stood in a very superior fashion, staring down at Liselle and Merlin as they followed him briskly down the hallway which was lined with large maple beams and staring portraits of official looking people. The door to the office was flanked by two benches on one of which sat Ron Weasley. He was looking very apprehensive and nervous, and especially uncomfortable under the piercing stare of the tall woman who the office probably belonged to.  
  
"Ron! What are you doing here?!" barked Merlin. Liselle seemed to share this surprise.  
  
"Absolutely no idea," he said, with a bit more comfort after seeing two less imposing people. "I was in a carriage with Fred and George, Neville, Ginny and Harry and a couple of others. McGonagall told us that Harry had to stay with us for a couple of days. Anyway, some teacher comes and tells us we're going to be Apparated to our house when we pass over it. So, we wait, and when we get there, Fred and George and Ginny all disappear but we're still there and we end going under some tunnel under London. Anyway, next thing I know, Dumbledore's saying something about a prophecy and we're here, still got no idea what's going on, Harry's in there." Ron pointed towards the frosted windows next to them, blocking the inside of the office from view.  
  
The tall woman gave Ron a very penetrating stare and then turned to Liselle and Merlin. "You are to sit here and wait quietly until you are called into the office. Well go on then, sit down."  
  
Merlin and Liselle, somewhat shocked by the woman's sharp attitude, began to sit down but Merlin was quickly interrupted when the office door swung open and Dumbledore emerged from it. Harry came out of the office and sat down next to Ron looking shocked and Dumbledore asked Merlin to come in.  
  
He complied, somewhat uncomfortably. He looked like he wanted to ask Harry what had gone on but the tall woman ushered him into the office before he could ask. What ensued was complete silence. Harry leaned over to Ron and Liselle as if to break into some explanation of what Dumbledore had said but the tall woman kept issuing silencing glares that soundlessly insisted he shut up. The office was obviously very well soundproofed, but some words could be heard from Merlin such as "Unclear" and "Untrustworthy" and "Parselmouth" and "Fawkes", "Evil" and "Sorting Hat".  
  
Merlin emerged about after about half an hour of interesting muffled words and silencing stares. He emerged looking very annoyed and stared horribly and furiously at Harry as if he was ready to beat him up, but just walked past him muttering something and sat down heavily next to Liselle. Everyone was shocked at this, Merlin had normally got on quite well with Harry, and as far as anyone knew, had no reason not to.  
  
Nobody else was invited into the office and instead Dumbledore came into the middle of the waiting room and began to speak.  
  
"In a few minutes time, your carriage will arrive and take you to Malfoy Manor which you should find is deserted. I cannot explain why at this time. You shall find that the Manor is deserted, but you should uncover a compartment beneath the Manor's front drawing room beneath a large cabinet. In this compartment you will find something that I can only describe as a ball of shadow. It will look like a swirling black mass within a glass sphere. You are to handle it with utmost care. Breakage of the globe will have terrible consequences, terrible, terrible consequences. You will then order your carriage to Gringotts. Gringotts is currently operating with an emergency skeleton staff as the goblins have been scrambled to defend the most important vaults, you must therefore navigate to vault 379 unaided. You must understand that I am not asking anything of you and you have the right to refuse this at any time. I am, however, informed by very reliable sources that you will not. You will then deliver the globe to the vault where the Goblins will ensure it is safely stored."  
  
This was fantastic, apart from perhaps the navigating Gringotts bit. They were going to break into the school bully's house, steal something weird and fascinating, but probably a bit dangerous, and then deliver it to a bunch of Goblins. Didn't sound too taxing, but why did they have to do it? Were a group of fifteen year olds better equipped to do that than a squad of highly trained ministry officials? Probably not, so why were they enlisted to do it. Sure there was something slightly unusual about Merlin, Harry Potter was the boy who lived of course. Liselle was smart, and Ron had had his share of danger but so had many others. It didn't make any sense at all.  
  
"One final thing, Mr Carter, you will be needing this."  
  
Dumbledore handed Merlin a sword. It looked similar to the one they had collected from the Crypt earlier but it was smaller. This did make some sense, it was common knowledge that Merlin was more than an acceptable swordsman, but why did he need a sword now, wasn't this Manor supposed to be deserted? This seemed to inspire more fear in the revelation that they might be doing something dangerous than it made anyone feel better. Merlin took the sword, looked at Dumbledore questioningly, but nevertheless, he swished it round and slid it into a pocket in his robes (which were still slightly burnt and dusty from his encounter with Mad Eye Moody's cursed alter ego). Dumbledore then gestured out of the corridor and they followed after Dumbledore had a brief few words with the tall woman who promptly vanished after he had gone. They walked along the corridor and through a door just off the lobby which led to, surprisingly, a dark wooded area. They were in London, they'd just walked through a door in a semi- underground hotel and ended up in a dark and somewhat frightening wood with trees that taller even than those in Hogwarts' forbidden forest, that towered as tall as the stars. It was different to the Forbidden Forest though. If it was possible, this wood seemed even more sinister. The forest floor wasn't rigged with roots and leaves like you would expect from a forest, it was rather just grass. It was unnaturally clear for such a big and wild place, and oddly silent for its size. This place certainly wasn't in London. The group wandered just ahead of Dumbledore and came to a full stop.  
  
"Right, well I must be off now," Dumbledore said quite happily.  
  
"Erm, professor, where is this place, you not going to just leave us here are you? What about this carriage? Professor?" said Ron. He turned round and everyone else followed suit. Both Dumbledore, and any sign of either London or The Dripping Keg had completely disappeared.  
  
Ron let out a little scream and Liselle whimpered.  
  
"Keep your voice down, we don't know what's in here," said Merlin cautiously.  
  
"Oh thanks for reminding me, I've had enough of creepy forests for a lifetime," blurted out Ron.  
  
Merlin pulled Liselle to one side. Ron seemed to nervous to say anything intelligible, and he was still being very cold and angry towards Harry for some reason, and the fact that Merlin had a sword at arms length was probably the reason Harry was avoiding him too.  
  
"Liselle, I know what this place is, I've read about it."  
  
"You read too much," retorted Liselle. "Reading's going to get you killed one of these days."  
  
"Don't say that, it might just end up being true. Anyway, this is Bhorgal's Wood. It's unplottable, don't ask me how we ended up here though. I've read that it stretches for hundreds of miles. Muggles don't know it exists and can't enter it even if they did. No wizard knows where it is and few have ever entered it and even fewer have ever survived the experience. You don't find any gnomes or normal creatures here. It's a place of ancient creatures and few at that, even these trees you don't find anywhere else. They're so tall, that if any of the leaves fall off, they get caught by branches on the way down and they've rotted away before they can get to the floor. And this grass, look how short it is-" Liselle looked as if she would have liked to point out that it was also an odd icy blue-green colour, but kept quiet, "-it never grows taller than a few centimetres for some reason. They so that this place is so haunted that even the ghosts die."  
  
Liselle looked terrified. "But ghosts don't die."  
  
"No, I suppose that was a bad example, they end up worse than dead. Remember what happened to nearly Headless Nick a few years ago when he saw a Basilisk? He sort of froze, had to be gradually warmed back up. Well, that's sort of what's supposed to happen here, but much worse. See that mist over there?"  
  
"Oh no, you're not saying.?"  
  
"Yes," he interrupted. "This place is said to be so deserted and depressing, that all the creatures or people who have died here end up turning into ghosts, but they don't stay ghosts for long, they sort of dissolve. They loose there sense of identity and they all just sort of melt into one floating haunted mist."  
  
Liselle looked horrified. "My God."  
  
"It gets worse still, they say this place was once normal, a magical wood inhabited by all sorts of different wizards and creatures. Then something terrible happened, and it turned into this. You know, they say that this might be where Dementors come from."  
  
Liselle looked down at the weird grass and the freezing mist floating around her ankles. "Wait a minute, didn't you say that this place is called Bhorgal's Wood?" she asked fearfully.  
  
"Yes it is, why?"  
  
"Well, if this is Bhorgal's Wood, who on Earth is Bhorgal?" she asked, in a tone that suggested perhaps she didn't want to hear the answer.  
  
"Believe me, you don't want to know," replied Merlin, in a slightly shaky voice. "Right people, none of us know why we're here, and none of us are sure what's here or what we're supposed to be doing, but I think the best thing we can do is be prepared."  
  
Merlin took out his wand, and the others shortly followed. None of them needed to light their wands though, as plenty of light was provided by the eerie pearly glow of the icy mist which occasionally floated around them, and the huge full moon which hung in the sky, looking as if it had been there forever, the wood never blessed by a single ray of sunlight (which was probably the case).  
  
The complete silence was broken very slightly by a mysterious rustle. Merlin thought he saw a dash of flaming red hair, but Ron was behind him. He put it aside and began to concentrate on what to do next. But he heard a rustle of feet on grass again, and another dash of flaming red hair, and this time, it belonged to someone, a girl, running behind a tree, but only for an instant. By the curiously nervous looks on their faces, the others had seen it too. Merlin looked again. He didn't see anything, and only when he looked back down did the flaming red hair rush past, through the dense trees surrounding their clearing once again. There was a sudden flash of contemplation in his mind. This was the person he had seen earlier, but no, impossible, he hadn't been in a wood. But yes. He had. He had had a nightmare on the Hogwarts Express, there was a girl in the nightmare with him and some others, she had a name, but what was it, Abi Weasley. But there wasn't an Abi Weasley. The person had been a young girl at Hogwarts with them, but there was only one Weasley girl at Hogwarts, Ginny, and she wasn't even in their year. He turned round to Ron.  
  
"Ron, is there anyone in your family called Abi?"  
  
Ron turned away from speaking to Harry, looked a little shocked. "Err, yeah, my Dad's Grandmother I think, but she died ages ago in some disaster, we never talk about her, how did you know that?"  
  
Before he could respond, there was an odd rustling all around them. It wasn't like the rustling this red-haired girl had made, it was odd, menacing, chilling, surrounding them. Suddenly, something emerged from behind them, they could tell by the sound of the trees rustling all around them, they turned. What they saw was beyond belief...  
  
The immediate trees seemed to be growing even taller, something that none of them thought possible, their eerie black gnarled tentacle-like branches seemed to be growing. Somehow the trees seemed to be alive and moving in on the small group.  
  
"Something's not quite right," Liselle muttered holding her wand like a sword desperately in front of her.  
  
"You've got that right," quivered Ron, whose eyes were now the size of dinner plates and who had broken out into a cold sweat. "Here we are, just students thrown into the deep end in an unplottable dangerous forest... and by the way I do know who Bhorgal was and I agree with Merlin, at this moment you don't want to know who he is... maybe later, much later."  
  
Liselle was still looking quizzically at the encroaching trees, her head cocked to one side even facing this apparent danger, although her wand was gripped tightly in her hand, she didn't look like she was about to do anything with it. Merlin nudged her in the ribs with his elbow and hissed, "What are you doing?" at her.  
  
Suddenly she muttered a short snappy incantation and waved her wand in an almost absent minded way, the demonic like trees stopped in their tracks and now looked a lot less threatening.  
  
"Good," she smiled, as she stuck her wand into her cloak pocket, "That should stop them for a while. Come on, we need to get to the Malfoy's remember?" she said as the boys gaped at her.  
  
"What the hell did you just do there?" Harry muttered to her.  
  
"I remembered something that my Gran said to me years ago, that spell, its a little archaic but it did the trick this time. The usual spells and incantations that we use are of limited use here, cunning and guile and a little obscure knowledge are going to come in handy I think. Come on now, lets go!"  
  
With that, she lead the small band through the artificial clearing in an easterly direction. In the background there were creepy wailing sounds and it wasn't long before they all had their wands clutched in their wand hands again. What seemed liked hours later, Ron demanded a halt citing the fact that none of them had eaten or drunk for quite some time and his legs felt like they were about to fall off for the very reason. Merlin's stomach grumbled loudly and sheepishly he agreed with Ron saying that they should pause and discuss strategy or something which may be remotely useful. "Accio Food" by Harry conjured up a sizeable meal form all of them and they tucked in with gusto.  
  
Within the hour they continued with their trudge east with the help of Hermione's Four-Point spell which served Harry well in his final task in the Triwizard Championships. Late in the evening the group reached a small crude hut in a glen.  
  
"We're meant to go in," said Harry. "I don't know how I know, I just do, its perfectly safe".  
  
The now weary students entered gladly. The inside of the hut was crude yet comfortable. Out of nowhere there came a golden light and sweet music, Fawkes (Dumbledore's phoenix) appeared and landed on Harry's shoulder.  
  
"This is definitely a sign that we're meant to be here, stay here the night even," Ron ventured.  
  
"True, true," Liselle agreed in return. "We'll stay here for the night and continue in the morning, this is what Dumbledore must have meant when he said that he was still obliged to watch out for us, as technically the school term isn't over yet." With that, the four made themselves as comfortable as they could on furs that were on the floors and fell into a deep slumber with Fawkes perched on a table watching over them. * She was running and running, the girl with the flame red hair... she just kept running, every so often casting an eye behind her before continuing on her flight.  
  
"Wait, wait!" Liselle screamed after her, trying to reach out her hand to grab the girl, but she couldn't. Next came the awful falling sensation, the blinding green flash of light and the blood chilling screams. But possibly worst was the awful, awful cruel laugh that just seemed to reverberate around and around Liselle's head with the feel of a bony hand closing in around her neck... with an awful gasp she sat bolt upright in her bed, at exactly the same time as the others.  
  
"You had the dream too?" Merlin asked in a shaken voice. Mutely she nodded, the four of them sat lost in thoughts too worried and freaked out to notice that Fawkes had left and there was a plate sitting the table, a plate which hadn't been there before.  
  
"That must be Voldemort," Merlin mused quietly. "He wants us to know that he knows we're on his case, and setting out to fulfil the prophecy, from now on we need to be vigilant, more so than usual, we will sleep in two shifts and no one, I repeat no one is to go off on their own, safety in numbers people, remember that." The others nodded in agreement.  
  
The night passed somewhat uneventfully, unless you counted the dreams that shook them, one by one, from their slumbers.  
  
By dawn, they were all awake, slightly worse for wear after lack of sleep.  
  
"There's no point staying here, we might as well make a move to the Malfoy Manor. I'm sure it's nearby." Merlin hoped rather than knew this to be true. He opened the door of the shabby hut giving them a clear view of the woods, which were lit by pale beams of sunlight broken by the branches. Dew sparkled like particles of magic dust on the grass and in the air.  
  
"The sooner we're done with this mission the better," said Liselle huffily. She got up and stalked through the door.  
  
Harry, not sure whether to follow her or not looked at Ron who shrugged and remained silent- he was never his best first thing in the morning.  
  
"Come on then, we can't let her off on her own in a mood like that," Merlin sighed, then gestured to Ron and Harry to follow him.  
  
They spent the majority of the morning travelling further East, Liselle leading the group five strides ahead, still apparently not in the best of moods. By noon, the trees around them thinned and a large manor house was visible ahead of them, standing majestically as sunlight reflected off of the spotless windows, creeping ivy crawling up the walls towards the roof.  
  
"That's it. the Malfoy Manor," Liselle breathed. "We're here."  
  
A simple 'Alohomora' charm eased their entry to the house. The large oak door creaked open and the group moved slowly into the grand reception area. To their immediate left and also right stood large staircases which wound out of view. The floor was wooded, varnished so darkly and heavily it was almost like a mirror. A pair of double doors stood ahead of them. Harry made to move towards them but was stopped by a furious cry from upstairs, followed by thundering feet above them.  
  
"Thought the house was deserted!" Harry whispered urgently.  
  
"Yeah." Merlin gripped his wand tightly in his hand as they turned and faced the left staircase.  
  
"Help! Help me!!" An all too familiar voice floated towards them. Feet pounded then faded on the floor above as Harry lead the group up to the first floor. A long narrow corridor faced them, pictures of old and snarling wizards watching them suspiciously. A figure lay, now alone, in a heap on the floor. Draco Malfoy- silver blonde hair in disarray, his robes twisted and high at his throat as though someone had pulled him from behind. He heaved himself up onto his knees. He was beaten, bruised and looked close to tears, though obviously fighting it. "You've got to help me," he repeated.  
  
"That'll be the day Malfoy," Ron sneered, seemingly unable to contain himself. Merlin shot him a reprimanding glance.  
  
"What's happened?" Merlin asked Malfoy, who was glaring at Ron through a black eye.  
  
"Death Eaters," Malfoy spat. "Looking for something in the house. Thought I'd hidden it. I'm his damn son for God's sake!" He punched his fist furiously against the floor.  
  
"Your own father beat you up?!" Liselle asked incredulously, as Malfoy nodded. In this state he looked less like the school bully and a lot more like the teen he was, caught up in dark wizardry beyond his control.  
  
"Wouldn't put it past him," Harry muttered. "Well, where've they gone?"  
  
"Gone. Apparated, haven't they. 'Spose they thought you were the Ministry or something." Malfoy smiled twistedly. "Never thought there'd be a day when I was pleased to see you."  
  
"Malfoy." Merlin asked slowly, "What was it they were looking for?"  
  
"How am I meant to know? Father never tells me anything," he muttered.  
  
"Should have know you wouldn't tell us the truth anyway Malfoy," Harry snapped.  
  
Malfoy cast his eyes downward, paused for a moment and looked around at the group around him- Harry and Ron with unmistakable loathing splashed across their faces, Liselle with pity and Merlin, his face unreadable. Malfoy sighed.  
  
"There's no point fighting with each other. There are bigger wars to fight than our own, Potter. We're not going to get anywhere if we don't work together."  
  
Merlin raised an eyebrow at this statement, but remained silent. Ron, however, didn't. "Since when were you on our side anyway?" he demanded.  
  
"Since now," Malfoy looked at them sheepishly. "I've known for a while my father doesn't trust me. He doubts my loyalty to the Dark Lord. Says Dumbledore's 'corrupted' me. Says I'm a disgrace to the family, blah blah blah. It's nothing I've not heard before. Except I never realised he meant it. Thought he was just saying it, you know, to push me on. Should have known," he added more forcefully. "Father never jokes."  
  
"What a load of crap!" Ron burst out. "You'll never be on our side, we know you Malfoy, know you too well."  
  
"Suit yourself Weasley. I'll let you go. What did you want here? The Orb of Shadows wasn't it?" The four's attention was entirely caught. So Malfoy knew about it? Surely it and its powers were only known to those who held a chapter of the prophecy?  
  
"You know?" asked Liselle. "How?"  
  
"You are looking at a decedent of Merlin himself. Don't look at me like that Merlin, I wasn't exactly going to tell you we were related was I? Not something I'd want to let out if I could help it, related to a long line of pure Gryffindors. Not exactly good for the reputation. Still. my father has told us about the prophecy, he's been working on fighting against it his entire life for God's sake! Not that I know the particulars- like I said, he didn't trust me. But I know some important things, and the Orb of Shadows is very important. My father doesn't know where it is. I moved it this morning before father got here. Maybe he was right to doubt my fidelity to the Dark Side." Malfoy leant back on his arms as he watched the effects of this sink in.  
  
The four sat in a stunned silence. Merlin was at a loss for words. Related to the Malfoys? Thoughts rushed around confusedly in his brain. Was Malfoy to be trusted? The same thought was obviously going through Harry and Ron's minds as well. Could their years of loathing each other just disappear because Malfoy was having an identity crisis? Only Liselle could think objectively about this.  
  
"Look. We can here for the Orb of Shadows. If we leave here with it, we can say that Malfoy is on our side. If not, then maybe fate- or the prophecy- intended it that way. We have to find it. We have nothing to lose by trusting Malfoy to lead us to it," she reasoned.  
  
Reluctantly, the others nodded their agreement.  
  
After this conversation, or rather revelation, Malfoy came down the stairs and joined the group, much to everyone's annoyance. Harry and Ron began to argue with him. Liselle was about to join in when Merlin pulled her aside by her arm and steered her away from the group and began to talk to her in a whisper.  
  
"There's something not right about this place Liselle," he muttered seriously.  
  
"You're telling me." Liselle dashed a glance around the creepy, highly polished and dark hall.  
  
"No, I don't mean that. It's not right. I've been to the Malfoy's before, when I was very young."  
  
Liselle concealed her surprise at discovering that Merlin had been to Malfoy's house before but continued. "What was different about it ?"  
  
"I don't know, it just doesn't seem right. Bhorgal's Wood is more than unplottable. You can't leave it by conventional means. What I mean is, that we can't have just walked out of it and bumped right into Malfoy Manor. They say that after the disaster that turned this place into what it is, it sank. When I say sank, I don't mean it sank into the sea, it sank below reality. They say that Bhorgal's Wood exists as a shadow of the reality around it. It's sort of a ghost wood, and like I said, you can't leave it by normal means, you just end up walking around the hundreds of miles it engulfs until you go insane. They say that sometimes, it shadows events that are occurring in the living world above it, in the area it encompasses, sort of like a dream. What we are seeing here could just be a contorted shadow of what is actually happening in the real world, sort of like a dream."  
  
Liselle didn't understand this exactly and Merlin, although speaking confidently, didn't seem sure of himself either.  
  
"Having fun with your girlfriend Carter?" Malfoy had finished arguing with Harry and Ron and had turned his attention to Merlin and Liselle.  
  
Liselle looked furious and seemed about to respond angrily. Merlin just stared intently at Malfoy with an odd gleam in his eye, Liselle could have sworn his eyes flashed from their usual brown to a bright, glaring turquoise for a moment, but it might have just been the moonlight from outside. The onlookers looked at the stare curiously. For about a minute, Merlin just glared, unblinkingly at Malfoy whose expression had changed completely. It had turned from amusement, to interest, to wonder, to confusion, and then abruptly to malice.  
  
Before anyone could stop him, Merlin was walking forwards, drawing the sword Dumbledore had given him. Almost as soon as he had drawn the sword from his robes, Merlin had swiftly spun it round, and as he was standing right in front of Malfoy, grasped the hilt with two hands, thrust it backwards, pointing forwards just above his hip, and with incredible speed and force, raised it higher and jabbed it straight into the right of Malfoy's chest, still with the odd glint in his eye. He pulled out the sword and let it dangle loosely in his right hand by his side as Malfoy fell to the ground, groaning and clutching his chest. Merlin watched him until he was slumped on the ground.  
  
Everyone stared, but, being further away, Liselle had noticed that there was no blood on the sword. Before anyone could react, an odd black stream was coming from the wound in Malfoy's chest. A terrible howling and hissing, like an evil wind, filled the room, and a flickering black form, that looked almost human in shape flew out of the wound and then fell to the ground where it slid away horribly, like a shadow. The three stared on. Suddenly, the house around them and the illusion Malfoy's body flickered away around them and they were left standing in the middle of gloomy, shimmering and menacing forest. They just caught a glimpse of the shadow darting away at incredible speed around and through the trees.  
  
"We're too late, someone has released one of the shadow warriors. Let's just hope we can get to the real Malfoy Manor before they get hold of the orb," said Merlin mournfully.  
  
"If this has taught us anything, it's that we shouldn't trust anything we see here. It's possible that this place has some sort of delusional effect. We wanted to find Malfoy Manor, and we did. We wanted to find the orb, and Malfoy turns up telling us he knows where it is, we feel secluded and defenceless, and Dumbledore's phoenix turns up. We should be careful, this place is tricky," Merlin said in a grave tone.  
  
Ron, still shaky, responded. "Do you mean to say that all that was an illusion ?"  
  
"No. I'd imagine it had elements of truth in it. Malfoy is a descendant of Merlin, and what we're looking for is called the Orb of Shadows, like Malfoy said. It's sort of a representation of the real world. One thing's for sure, the longer we stay here, the worse it's going to get, and sleeping here doesn't help either. If we spend much more time here, everything'll just become one big fantasy world and we'll eventually go insane. There is only one thing, one creature that can resist the effects of this place..."  
  
Before he could finish, they all interrupted in unison, "Bhorgal."  
  
"Yep. Bhorgal is the only creature known to be capable of resisting the effects of this place. They say it's hundreds of years old, preys on any who stumble across this place, unable to provide any resistance because they're lost in delusions and shadows of reality, it thrived."  
  
A visual shudder swept through the crowd.  
  
"Luckily, I know a charm that can protect us. It's an anti-disillusionment charm, but it wears off after about 4 hours so we'll have to keep recharging it, and if we spend more than about another day here, its effects will become less and less powerful until eventually it won't work at all. It's Revelusiacenturo. I suggest we all do it now."  
  
There was some trouble pronouncing it, but Merlin said that doesn't really matter, they just had to concentrate on a moment of realisation. Ron had quite a lot of trouble, and so Liselle did it for him in the end. Just as they had finished, their attention was diverted by a powerful flapping sound from above. There was something spherical descending into the clearing in which they stood, glowing slightly at the sides, and next to it was a unicorn white creature of some sort. The sphere eventually became clearer, and it was obvious that it was closer than the white creature.  
  
The crowd stepped back slightly, not knowing what to expect, but Merlin stood still, gazing up at the creature. It eventually became obvious that the sphere was made of some sort of wood, probably oak. It was heavily polished, and had gold trimmings circling both of its hemispheres which were engraved with a wide strip of some sort which was glowing brightly. It became clear that the sphere was spinning violently. At this, Merlin did take a step backwards at seeing this, but still seemed slightly less shocked than the others, although not his recent composed self. The oak sphere gradually came to a halt just in front of them. It was about twice as tall as a man, and perfectly spherical. The line of gems on the outside was no longer glowing and a small sliding door was opening, the opening to which was trimmed with gold. there were little vents on the sides which were emitting occasional puffs of silver smoke, and a soft, whirring mechanical sound was coming from it that was gradually slowing down. This was their carriage.  
  
For a moment, they thought the anti-illusion charms hadn't worked, but it was definitely real, and this feeling, although not expressed by means of spoken word, was mimicked by the entire crowd. Little compartments were opening at the sides of the carriage, the shiny wood sliding upwards to reveal one large, strong wheel in each, now exposed compartment and offering glimpses of incredibly complicated and intricate, shiny, silver and gold machinery inside, tiny and large cogs whirring, little levers and switches and springs and little valves emitting gentle hisses and occasional billows of misty smoke. The wheels emerged on large, thick, powerful gold struts that slid out mechanically with elegant ease and set into the side of the carriage. The compartment covers slid back over the wheels, shielding the machinery inside, and panels slid down to reveal little brass trimmed portals around the sphere, a lattice-domed glass top, and some larger latticed dome windows at the front, back, left and right. There was also some movement beneath the carriage suggesting that there was also a downwards facing window. It now looked more like a carriage, apart from the fact that it was completely spherical and wasn't connected to a horse or any sort of visible driving mechanism although the four got the idea that complex mechanics they had briefly seen exposed near the wheels had something to do with its flight. They also noticed that there were fine ridges and grooves edged with gold in a complex yet delicate and appealing pattern around the sphere, along with a large circular joint on the left and right of the vehicle. They could see thick golden strips connected to the joints and following the grooves round the carriage and then it dawned on them, this was oddly familiar, it looked like a huge golden snitch ! Apart from the fact that it was on wheels, and mainly wood and had little windows.  
  
Then, the pure white creature they had seen near it landed next to them. It was a horse, a winged horse, as bright and innocent as any unicorn, but without horns. It was bigger than any horse, at least twice as tall. It tucked its wings gently into its side until they disappeared into the brilliant white of its coat. It now looked like a normal horse, apart from its increased proportions and its dazzling white glare. It had a long white mane and an elegant swishing tail, and beautiful, globe-like turquoise eyes. It came up to Merlin and gently nuzzled its nose against him, Merlin stroked its head (it bent down a bit for him to reach) and neighed affectionately.  
  
"What are you doing here Peggy?" he said caringly, still stroking the horse.  
  
"Peggy? You call this thing Peggy ?" said Ron, half in disbelief, half in intrigue.  
  
"Yep, after Pegasus. She's a Pegusian albino. She's mine."  
  
"How did your horse end up here, didn't you say you can't just walk in here?" said Liselle, intrigued.  
  
"Yes, but this isn't any normal horse. Very loyal creatures. She's been in our family for four hundred years."  
  
The four looked on astonished at this beautiful creature, staring in disbelief in the knowledge that it was older than Dumbledore. The four clambered into the carriage up some beautifully crafted oak and brass steps that stretched to the floor. Merlin was reluctant to leave his horse and why it was there was still a mystery but he entered the carriage nonetheless.  
  
This was no ordinary carriage. They climbed up a small set of oak steps inside the carriage. It was like a small sitting room inside, complete with roaring fire, big, comfy red sofas and armchairs, a Persian rug in the centre along with a polished mahogany coffee table. The room mimicked the shape of the outside carriage but it was wallpapered and only huge great oak beams trimmed with brass showed through. The walls must have been at least two foot thick, it was built as sturdily as a castle. As they entered, they noticed two little arched oak doors that must lead into another couple of other rooms. There was a huge latticed window next to the fire through which the forest could be seen and in the centre of the room was a little spiral staircase at the bottom of which was another window exactly the same as the one near the fire but it showed the forest floor. There was an area on the other side of the room that looked like a reading area with floor to ceiling bookcases, and just next to that, what looked like a small dining table that was already full of enticing foods of all different kinds. There were places for five. There were also a couple of spindly chairs and a smart integrated desk in the reading area. There was a chess table and even a couple of portraits and pictures in what space remained on the otherwise packed walls. The room was lit by the fire and a large a set of large glowing chandeliers around the large window. There were a few buttons near the door through which they had entered, topped with different coloured gemstones and edged in silver with gold engraved labels like "Door" or "Window Shutter" or "Lights". There was also another one of the huge windows in the roof and a few smaller brass portholes at about eye level. The four ran up to the spiral staircase to what was down there. It didn't go down far. Just low enough for another low level, circled around the large latticed window was a little circular path, wide enough to stand on, and with a banister around the downwards facing window, that was like a glass bottomed boat effect. Five little arched oak doors like the ones above led were placed around the window. Then Liselle turned round.  
  
"Marabellia !"  
  
As they came in, they hadn't noticed an elegant and wise looking cat snoozing in front of the fire. Liselle rushed up to it and it jumped up into her arms lazily. There were also three owls perched on an oak pole suspended from the ceiling by polished brass chains. A snowy white one, Harry's owl Hedwig. A very tall, smart light brown owl with blond streaks and a white circle around its clever, pleasant looking, brown-eyed face, Merlin's owl (which had a small letter clasped in its beak). There was also another one, smaller than the other two, with smooth, rich brown feathers with white tips and a commanding face that was carrying a letter. Another tiny grey streak was flitting around the ceiling excitedly and eventually settled next to Hedwig. It was Pigwidgeon, Ron's owl. There was also a tiny, smooth and soft-furred brown and white monkey sitting on the floor near the owls. It ran up to Merlin and threw its arms around his neck. They presumed this was Merlin's pet as well. There was also something that looked like a snake, but with long black hair curled up on a plant, staring at everyone with piercing green eyes. This didn't seem to belong to anyone, and it just occasionally hissed deviously as the others greeted their pets.  
  
No one had seemed to notice that this carriage was much bigger inside than it was outside. Sure, it was a large vehicle judging by the exterior, twice as tall as a medium sized man, but nothing spectacular. On the inside however, it was nothing less than a small house. They also failed to notice the huge yet delicate, lace-like gold wings unfurl from the grooves around the carriage and begin flapping too fast to see with a gentle hum, slowly raising the carriage above the high tree tops and away at remarkable speed, the beautiful pure-white, winged horse following close by like a guardian.  
  
They quickly discovered that the five doors that the staircase led to were bedrooms, numbered one to five and each with their names on little gold plaques, apart from the fifth room whose plaque remained blank. The rooms were only small but all had there own small fire places, double sized, yet somehow compact four poster beds, a trunk at the foot and some in-built, handsome, polished mahogany wardrobes with brass fittings that Merlin was pleased to discover contained a new set of robes as his were in a real state, still showing the burns of the earlier game of exploding snap, the singe marks and dust from Mad Eye Moody's cursed self's attack and more. Each room was small and compact but had its own little washroom.  
  
There was also a sixth door downstairs that they hadn't seen before as it was behind the staircase, obscuring its shape, which turned out to be a small bathroom. The first of the other two rooms upstairs had turned out to be a sort of store room containing all sorts of supplies (although not food as that magically appeared every meal time, as was shown at breakfast the next morning. Ron was also happy to find that regular goodies such as sweets and chocolate appeared on the table and bowls of fruit and sweets replenished themselves). There was also a broom cupboard in the store room holding the four's brooms and another. Harry's Firebolt, an unusual and impressive looking one of Merlin's that they assumed wasn't readily available, the latest edition of the Comet belonging to Liselle and Ron's old Cleansweep. There were also odd looking little contraptions and other little items that they couldn't see any particular use for. It also contained their out door cloaks and other essentials.  
  
The other room turned out to be even more interesting than the storage room. It was slightly bigger and housed the other remaining large domed window. It was some sort of helm but I didn't seem of any use at the moment as the craft was happily flying itself. The room was lined with a sort of counter full of little gold and silver switches and buttons, and little glowing and blinking gems. The front was left clear near the window where there was a large free-standing oak and gold console with a large mahogany steering wheel, the hub of which was trimmed in circular gold dials that moved occasionally covered in engraved writing that occasionally changed and with a centre of interestingly arranged and perfectly smooth and oval precious stones and gold buttons. The area of the counter in front of the console was cut out to allow the pilot a full view of the domed window. There were a couple of sections of the wall devoted to huge sets of gold dials like pocket watches showing everything from temperature to cloud type, the most important of which were larger and encircled the front window. Occasionally, swirly emerald writing would dash across the window. There were also black hemispheres subset into the counters at intervals which, like eight balls, would occasionally swirl around to reveal some writing saying something very technical and relevant. Additionally, there was a half globe on another small podium in front of the steering console which was very much like the one Liselle had been intrigues by in The Crypt of The Ancients. At the moment, it was a bit overcast but you could see occasional glimpses of the trees beneath. There were also sorts of buttons and levers surrounding the globe on a little counter which would probably clear away the clouds but nobody bothered to find out which one. In fact, nobody ever did much on the bridge or steering room other than pop in occasionally, sit on one of the elegant, high backed, rotating chairs in there and watch all the little switches flick up and down, and the gems glow and the interesting words sweep by on the window or the on the little screens. There was a huge, leather-bound manual that weighed in at about two thousand pages sitting on a little table near the door. The floor was carpeted in red around the counters (Like the rich red, emerald and blue carpet in the lounge area and dining room), but was neatly trimmed in brass round the edge as the centre was highly polished wood, and the console was set on a marble podium (this marble was mimicked in the bathroom and the polished wood under the stair carpet down to the bedrooms, the shallow entrance steps near the sturdy port-hole door and the storage room). There were also a set of silver and gold telescopes in a neat rack on what was probably the bridge of the carriage. Some provided huge magnification, others, like the window, would dash across important technical information as you looked through them and others did things like look through clouds, or measure lunar rays.  
  
The store room also provided an impressive set of magical board games and a couple of packs of exploding snap cards (which Merlin was avoiding) that served up hours of entertainment. There was a normal wall clock in the living area as well as another very odd clock which showed all sort of planetary movements depicted perfectly by perfect images of the planets and sun themselves, explained by means of surrounding complicated moving dials and several hands of different sizes. There was another clock that no-one apart from Merlin seemed to understand that he said was an Arithmanatic clock. It had about twenty hands, hundreds of complicated symbols and engraved areas and everyone thought it was a bit of an enigma. Eventually, the endless trees of Bhorgal's forest subsided below and were replaced with thick fogs and clouds. Merlin added ominously however (after Ron had commented that he was glad he'd seen the last of the place) that he though it might not be the last they saw of the wood. Merlin was still being as hostile as ever to Harry and they hadn't spoken since they were in the Dripping Keg. Harry was doing his best to avoid Merlin (although, as he admitted to the others, he didn't know what was wrong) and wasn't talking much. This was probably something to do with the fact that Merlin had nicely finished someone off right in front of him, even if it had been an illusion, it was still a bit scary.  
  
Everyone was enjoying skimming over the clouds. They had spent a night in the carriage, but weren't sure exactly where they were going, although they were pretty sure it was Malfoy Manor. Again. Nobody had read the letter that the owl had brought (Merlin had taken his letter but hadn't told anyone what was in it), but Harry had let the owl out of a portal before they went to bed (as it was a post owl, it had to be paid and get on with its next assignment). After breakfast, sitting in front of the backwards facing window in the living area talking, the discussion turned to what they were supposed to do at Malfoy Manor.  
  
"Don't worry, all we have to do is get the Orb of Shadows thingy," said Ron confidently. "Isn't that what Malfoy said, I mean, that thing that was pretending to be Malfoy?"  
  
Ron opened his mouth to continue when a loud bang was heard from outside. Skimming above the daybreak clouds was a terror inspiring sight. Four billowing cloaked and hooded figures on broomsticks were chasing a smaller person. Just behind them were even bigger black cloaked creatures that seemed to be freezing even the air around them. Dementors. Two Dementors and four Death Eaters chasing someone. The Dementors weren't riding broomsticks, they were flying. It was terrifying, seeing them glide so easily through the sky. There was a sudden blur of pure white. Merlin's winged horse had gone to help. The group gathered around the window, speechless, shocked and horrified.  
  
A Death Eater fired a plume of green light at the winged horse which it elegantly dodged, knocking him off his broom. The creature then thrust itself into a Dementor and another Death Eater and they disappeared beneath the clouds, flashes of green light.  
  
"Oh no! That's it, I'm going to help."  
  
Before anyone could really react, Merlin had took his broom from the storage room and was gliding out of the open carriage door at tremendous speed.  
  
"I'm going too," said Harry. Ron and Liselle glanced at each other.  
  
"You two stay here, we need someone back here in case we don't get back," Harry continued in a hurried tone, rushing to get his broom.  
  
Liselle and Ron both knew that this was because their brooms couldn't have handled the kind of speeds that the Dementors and Death Eaters were flying at, they wouldn't stand a chance, and Harry knew this too. When they looked round, they just saw Harry disappearing through the open carriage door. They could see Merlin approaching the Dementor which was moving to intercept him. The Death Eaters hadn't seen him yet and were too focussed on chasing the small person. Merlin had obviously produced a Patronus, and it was a powerful one. It looked sort of like a silver river was coming from Merlin's wand, his other hand held onto his broom. The Dementor was overwhelmed by the strength of the spell and was sent flying backwards below the clouds, tumbling as it went, falling.  
  
Merlin swooped forwards (wherever his broom came from, the makers certainly knew what they were doing.) He moved right up next to the left hand Death Eater and kicked him hard in the side, the other firing curses at the fleeing person in front. The Death Eater was knocked off but swiftly waved his wand as he was falling and his broom came back to him. The Death Eater grabbed on to it and swung himself back on. He was readying his wand but Merlin hadn't noticed him. He thought he'd got rid of him and was readying to fend off the next Death Eater.  
  
But then, suddenly, and without warning, something huge came swooping up behind them, slowly, bulkily, and creating a massive groan. It slowly pierced the cloud tops, it was huge, it was an aeroplane! What immediately followed wasn't pretty, the suck of the engine got hold of the Death Eater preparing to attack Merlin and he was pulled heavily off course. The end of the Death Eater's broom was caught in the engine. The Death Eater struggled to get hold of the broom but only the stump at the front was left and the Death Eater was left floating in mid air, unable to move. Meanwhile, Merlin had been hit by the plane and had been toppled over the wing. Harry was approaching the plane, the fleeing person at the front dodging the curses from the remaining Death Eater as well as he could, but his broom was hit once or twice, knocking him off course occasionally.  
  
Even from this distance, Ron could see a look of shock on Harry's face. He hurried and got one of the telescopes from the bridge and one for Liselle. He came back panting, and handed a silver one with swirly patterns on it whilst he focussed onto the scene with a brass one. What the two saw was Harry flying by, a look of horror on his face, and a podgy little face pressed against the window of the slowly ascending plane, that was soon joined by a the thin face of a woman, and in the window in front, the horrified look on the face of an even podgier man. The Dursleys were on the plane! Only Ron had ever met the Dursleys before so Liselle didn't understand his surprise fully.  
  
Meanwhile, Merlin had regained his composure and was flying fast towards the second Death Eater, but the Dementor that Merlin had knocked down had somehow returned and was looming up behind Harry. Merlin flew past Harry and gestured towards the Dementor, but Harry's glasses had been knocked askew by the tremendous breeze at this only barely breathable altitude. The Dementor was doing no messing around now. It was lowering its hood towards increasingly oblivious Harry. Harry might be impervious to the unforgivable curse, but whether he would have a similar resistance to a Dementor's kiss was debatable. Merlin looped back and pushed Harry out of the way. The Dementor toppled and Harry began to combat it. Merlin meanwhile, was moving towards the next Death Eater whilst silvery stag emerged from Harry's wand and began to stampede the Dementor. The fleeing person's broom had been hit again and was on fire.  
  
From the carriage, Ron and Liselle saw a bright blue pulse come from Merlin's wand that hit the Death Eater hard, knocking him off balance. Merlin then kicked the Death Eater in front of the plane and it was flung across the windscreen, much to the amazement of the co-pilot whose astonished face could be seen through the telescopes in the carriage.  
  
Merlin dived quickly and scooped up the falling person who had been fleeing and managed to get him on the back of his broom. He turned round to look and seemed shocked. The telescopes clearly revealed that the fleeing person had silvery blond hair and a smarmy face. It was Draco Malfoy. Merlin looked like he was ready to kick him back off but he didn't have time to. Suddenly, another huge form pierced the clouds. Still trying to dodge the suck of the plane's roaring engines. It was a dragon ! A Chinese fireball, flanked by another four Death Eaters. Merlin and Malfoy both fired at them, and their vision obscured by the clouds they were emerging from and unable to respond, two Death Eaters were knocked off. Harry began dodging the dragon, he had had some experience with them. In its confusion, the dragon sent fire roaring towards the last remaining Death Eaters, sending them spiralling on their burning brooms, using some sort of spells in an attempt to cushion their landings, singed themselves. Harry had managed to disorientate the dragon enough to make it twist and catch its tail in the aeroplane's engine, causing it to fly away in pain.  
  
They flew back to the carriage and tumbled through the doorway, much to the disbelief of the Dursleys who were still safely in their cabin. Most of the Muggles hadn't seen the event as the cabin was rocking with the pilot's attempt to keep the plane straight after the engine stuttered from the dragon's tail and a cloaked man flying across the front of the cockpit. After Malfoy explained that he was running from his own Father, a huge argument ensued. After the door was safely closed to the carriage, although it went entirely unnoticed by the occupants, the plaque on the door of the fifth bedroom now bore the name D. Malfoy as if scribed by an invisible hand, and also unnoticed was the fact that they would soon be arriving in the dark grounds of the real Malfoy Manor. * Merlin and Harry collapsed in a heap on the ground, totally exhausted after the exertions of fighting off the Dementors and Death Eaters. Liselle rushed to their side, a concerned look on her face, however to the surprise of everyone she began shouting at them.  
  
"What the hell did you do that for? You cannot be harmed in the carriage, it repels dark magic which is why the Dementors and the Death Eaters couldn't get in. You could have been maimed, killed or worse- the Dementors could have got to you... I expected better of you both, but obviously I was wrong. This is not the time to act out some silly coming of age desires or prove to one another how great you both are. We are all here for the same reason, so get over yourselves! We have a job to do so I suggest that we do it."  
  
With that she stalked into her own room and shut the door behind her. Harry and Merlin looked sheepishly at one another.  
  
"She's right," Merlin commented. "We have a job to do, we're meant to be a team, we should get on with it."  
  
It was at this point that Harry noticed Malfoy for the first time "You," he spat. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Before Malfoy could react, Ron stepped between him and Harry. "Its alright Harry," he said quietly. "He's telling the truth, he's one of us now." With that he pointed to the fifth door where D. Malfoy was now engraved. "Remember what Liselle said? This place can't be permeated by dark magic, he has to have rejected Vol.... He Who Shall Not Be Named to enter the carriage. The prophecy foretold five, so far there's only four of us, so why not Malfoy, we know that he is a descendant of Merlin..."  
  
"How....how did you know that?" Malfoy whispered. Ron explained Bhorgal's Wood and the vision that they had there.  
  
"So, cousin," Merlin intoned. "Explain to us exactly what happened."  
  
Malfoy blanched and began his tale, Ron, Harry and Merlin listened quietly. Malfoy went through his doubts about his father and his friends, his father doubting his allegiance to Voldemort and his moving of the Orb of Shadows. Next he began the tale of his flight from his father, chillingly saying that, "He knows that I'm against him now and what he does, I know so much about the Death Eaters and Voldemort's activities that he will stop at nothing to silence me..." The others looked at each other in shock.  
  
"Your own father?" Harry said disbelievingly. Malfoy merely nodded.  
  
Hours passed and there was still no sign of Liselle, dusk was falling when she emerged from her room in a new set of robes and a determined look on her face  
  
Liselle entered just as some sanity was re-emerging in the room. Ron and Harry were sitting on one of the big sofas next to the fire talking about something curiously. Merlin was sitting in a big red armchair near the bookcases, and Malfoy, obviously not very approving of the decor, was sitting in the only green chair in the room, a high-backed leather one, faced away from everyone else. Neither of them were doing anything. Malfoy's back was looking very uncomfortable as he stared out of the large domed window at the clouds, now gently receding to the deep navy blue of the night. Merlin looked a bit annoyed and seemed to be re-considering his previous words of consent to Liselle. He looked almost icy, as if anyone who came near him would walk off with a limb missing, or under some nasty curse. Liselle strode into the room after climbing the little mahogany staircase from her room and ignored her cat, Marabellia who obediently followed her. Merlin stood up promptly and walked towards her, the other's gaze attention averted immediately to the scene, even Malfoy's head turned.  
  
"You don't know what you're talking about do you?" snapped Merlin hastily. Liselle looked shocked but stopped and turned to him. She looked like she was about to say something equally aggressive and dismissive of Merlin's words but he interrupted just as she was about to open her mouth.  
  
"You insist on quoting a piece of writing you've never read, and before you even stop to think why, you tell me... and Harry-" He faltered at this point, he was still being cold towards Harry and darted him a glance and pointed in his direction, more to clarify his point than to side with anyone, "-that going and saving someone's life was stupid, even if it was... him-" Another disgusted glance, this time directed towards Malfoy who looked offended, "-and also, you might not have noticed, but one of my family's most treasured animals was out there, and I still don't know where she is now, she could be dead, for all you care. Of course I know this carriage repels dark magic, but it doesn't just save fleeing people or rare horses, it has to rely on its occupants for that. If you had got your conceited and blind little way, Malfoy'd be dead, there'd be a dozen Death Eaters chasing after us and a happy little family of Dementors. And what's this about proving myself, honestly, you silly little girl, if you had any idea, please, coming of age desire, you really are shallow aren't you? If I didn't have complete trust in Dumbledore, everyone would know the truth about you-" he was now staring at Harry who looked shocked and frightened, "-Harry Potter-" he was almost spitting now, he continued in a mock and sort of scary, squeaky voice, "-The Boy Who Lived, Voldemort's downfall, brave little Gryffindor, Dumbledore's latest project, perfect little everything," the squeaky mock voice was faltering now into pure anger and disgust. "The youngest seeker in a century, Professor Lupin's little pal, you know, Potter, if Dumbledore didn't think you were better than the some of your parts, you couldn't even imagine what state you'd be in." Merlin, fuming and looking terrifying, glanced upwards intently.  
  
There was a massive bang, a huge plume of scarlet smoke that appeared with the sound of a dragon's roar and Merlin had disappeared. Liselle's mouth was hanging open, Malfoy looked terrified, Harry looked utterly stunned and Ron clinging onto the arm of the sofa looking on in disbelief. When the smoke had cleared, Ron turned to Harry, but before he could say anything Harry replied, still shocked. "No, I have no idea what he was talking about."  
  
Before what had happened had truly sunk in, the entire carriage suddenly shook violently and all the furniture was jolted to one side, Malfoy fell off his seat, Liselle stumbled and Harry was flung over the arm of the sofa. Ron was the only one left seated, staring out the window to see they were swerving violently to the right. After righting themselves, the others stared at the window, then at each other, and instinctively ran towards the little door that led onto the bridge, the control room of the carriage. The door was locked. Liselle howled alohomora at the door but to no effect, the others all pointed their wands at the keyhole and in unison and shouted "ALOHOMORA !". The door flung open and they ran to the edge of the bridge to a surprising site. Merlin was standing at the wheel, turning it, his robes were blustering as if in some powerful storm, making him look about three times as big. There was a shadowy black pool of some sort lying on the floor, vaguely humanoid in shape, holding a sword of pure black with a silver handle. The figure was leaking a shadowy black liquid and the form was gradually dissolving into the floor. It was then they noticed a gold sword lying at the side of the steering console, Merlin's. He turned round with frightening speed, his robes sweeping behind him as he turned, he was still steering. His eyes looked huge, and were a bright, glowing turquoise. He had a twisted smile on his face.  
  
"As you can see, someone has been trying redirect us, we should have been at Malfoy Manor yesterday."  
  
He glanced down at the shadowy figure that was now almost completely dissolved.  
  
"It would seem, Liselle, that you don't know as much about this carriage as that book can teach you. Please, impervious to dark magic, PAH."  
  
He stared at the open manual on a table near the door, opened at chapter fifty seven, 'Defences'.  
  
Not knowing what to do, Harry and Liselle rushed forwards to Merlin but came to a halt after two strides, as if coming up to some invisible wall. Having turned his attention back to steering, they could see him shake his head patronisingly. He turned round again.  
  
There was a hissing noise, and Merlin looked up, the others followed suit but saw nothing. Merlin, without looking, thrust his hand over the sword and it zoomed into his palm. He assumed a ready stance, took out his wand and directed it towards the group, what was he going to do, was he going to try and kill them? Before they could respond, a swirling blue light had surrounded them. They couldn't move out of it but it didn't seem to be doing any harm. Black shapes emerged from the walls and made for Merlin. Merlin did a sort of forward flip and slashed three of them. He turned round and pointed his wand at four more that had slipped the wall behind him. In a flash of white they were gone. He turned again in time to stab another that quickly dissolved in a black mist. What seemed like another eleven came from every wall and drew swords, moving towards Merlin. He fought them off as best he could, slashing, one missed, deflecting another attack from one. He drew his wand and five were thrown backwards and back through a set of blinking and glowing control panels. The panel was obliterated and all the little lights flashed out, some came out of their sockets amid streams of sparks. The rest went in a blur. After several minutes of sword clashing, acrobatics and duelling, the shadow warriors were gone. The blue swirls around them dissolved, and Merlin lay bleeding on the floor near the cracked front window. He was completely unconscious and they all feared he was dead, which was possible. His wand lay in two pieces next to him, an unusual, bright white, silver and blue glowing substance lay spilled on the floor around it. His face was grazed and his robes were torn. The bridge was a mess, cracked panels, dust and ash lying everywhere, pieces of wood and splinters and the light was flickering.  
  
The small crowd remained in a hushed silence as they watched Merlin, stunned and helpless. As wisps of blue faded into the air around them from Merlin's spell, Liselle got hold of herself, pulled out her wand, muttered, "Mobilicorpus" and Merlin's limp body rose from the floor and floated away from the control room and towards his own room, directed by Liselle. The others followed silently.  
  
They gathered around Merlin's bed as Liselle gently lowered him onto it, and began to work on healing his cuts. At least he was alive, that was the main thing.  
  
"There's nothing more I can do that mend cuts and bones, I haven't got Madam Pomfrey's skill of entirely healing a person, I only know what I've read from the books," Liselle explained.  
  
"Don't you think we should concentrate more on fixing the controls rather than wasting our time on him?" a cold voice said suddenly.  
  
Everyone, who had been looking intently at Merlin, raised their eyes automatically to Malfoy, as this was a stereotypical comment from him, but he was looking surprisedly at Harry. The others followed suit. Harry's face was contorted and blatently angry and annoyed.  
  
"Harry, you said that?" Ron asked faintly. This was not the time for a further fall-out among the members of this mission.  
  
"Yes. Look, what's more important, saving this conceited boy who thinks he can save this mission single handedly, or saving our carriage and thereby saving all our lives?" Harry almost spat. Everyone remained in a shocked silence, so Harry carried on. "Didn't you see him? Deserting us all to fly this on his own, putting that protection charm around us so he could fight the shadow warriors alone? If there's glory to be taken, it has to be him to take it. It's like he has to prove something to us. I never knew Merlin was like this. In fact, I thought he was okay. Then he went off on one about me for no reason, and now this. Well, personally I think he deserved everything he got." With that, Harry stormed out of the room, leaving an uncomfortable looking Ron, a mildly surprised Malfoy and a concerned Liselle alone with Merlin.  
  
"Erm, I'll go and talk to Harry," Ron said, and left the room. Malfoy followed.  
  
Some sort of auto pilot must have kicked in as the carriage was flying steadily, although in what direction, none of them knew. Hours passed as Liselle sat alone at Merlin's bedside. Finally, his eyelids flickered and opened. They flashed a brilliant turquoise before he blinked and they returned to their normal colour.  
  
"Merlin! Thank God you're awake!" Liselle cried. The others may have deserted him, but Liselle felt an almost admiring loyalty towards Merlin that wouldn't be broken that easily. They'd already been through a lot together.  
  
Merlin didn't reply, he just looked around for a while, if trying to take everything in, remembering what had happened. Suddenly he sat bolt upright and pulled on his cloak.  
  
"Merlin, what are you doing? You have to rest." Liselle told him worriedly, but he didn't listen. He stormed, somewhat unstabley, towards the control room where he found Harry and Malfoy doing their best to regain control of the carriage by fixing the wires and levers. Sparks flew from their wands as they concentrated on their job. Ron sat nearby gazing out of the window. He didn't have Harry and Malfoy's talent for magical mechanics. Harry looked up and caught Merlin's eye. Simultaneously, they glared at each other but didn't speak.  
  
Harry jumped defensively to his feet and raised his wand towards Merlin. Merlin retaliated like a reflex, but his wand wasn't there. Then he remembered- it was now broken. Rendered useless by dark forces.  
  
"Unlike you Potter. Not usually the one to attack an unarmed man," Merlin said coolly. Harry glared at him.  
  
The others watched as the two faced each other like dogs about to fight, until their attention was taken by Ron who cried, "Look! There it is!! The Malfoy Manor!"  
  
They all turned to look at Malfoy Manor. It was quite big, and very symmetrical. It was made of smooth, dark stone that was almost shiny and had a large number of spires and turrets. The gardens in front were well kept in a circle around the Manor which abruptly became a thick and icy looking forest, through which a smart stony path was cut, wide enough for a carriage to fit through. Malfoy flinched slightly at the scene.  
  
Before they knew what was happening, Merlin had lunged forwards, grabbed Harry around the waist and thrown him onto the floor. His glasses had completely smashed and had broken into three pieces. Merlin quickly got up, picking up Harry's wand, he hit Ron with the back of his fist so hard that he fell backwards onto Harry. Malfoy was drawing his wand but was afraid and fumbling. Merlin shouted expelliarmus in a cold and horrid voice, and Malfoy was flung out of the room. Merlin began running toward the steering console. Ron and Harry got up in time to see Merlin collapse again just as he had reached it, and several murky, shimmering black shapes that resembled humans, fly out of his body as he fell to the ground.  
  
Three took to guarding the shadow steering, another four also taking up guarding positions, whilst the remaining five headed for Harry and Ron, drawing swords of pure, wavering black, leaving an evil, lingering, dark trail behind them. Harry didn't have his wand and his glasses were in several pieces on the floor, Ron's nose was bleeding badly and has face was red and swollen. Ron was vaguely and panickingly searching for his wand. A shadow warrior was just about to cut Harry and Ron in two when Malfoy and Liselle ran into the room. Malfoy still looked concussed, but Liselle had her wand raised, she shouted something that couldn't be heard over the roar of the wind through the cracked window, Ron and Harry's screams and Malfoy's whimpers. There was a huge flash and the shadows were gone.  
  
A similar situation as to before occurred. Merlin was floated down to his room but didn't wake up this time, although he wasn't dead. Harry was still angry, and Ron spent most of the time in his room, trying out spells that might cure of his swollen face. Liselle had fixed Harry's glasses, but they were still a bit wonky (both the lenses were completely smashed and the frame had shattered into eight pieces so it was no wonder). Malfoy was recovering from shock.  
  
A couple of hours later (the shadow warriors had obviously taken them a long way back and no-one was entirely sure of how to speed up the carriage) Liselle had taken to reading the manual again. Conversation rose up again on what had happened to Merlin. After quite some arguing, Harry suggesting he was in league with them, Ron not being sure and trying to agree with everyone and Malfoy saying nothing, Liselle summarised  
  
"Well, all we can do is wait until he wakes up and then he can tell us for himself," she responded curtly, quickly returning to chapter twenty six of the manual's foreword to the first introduction section.  
  
"We'd all be better off if he never woke up and just stayed there."  
  
Liselle shook her head and tutted and Ron gave Harry a look which suggested he shouldn't have said that.  
  
A while later they were halfway into a game of 'Troll Trouble' -a nifty little board game which required you to navigate your three inch miniature troll around a series of obstacles to an arena where they battled. The trick was finding an efficient way to communicate with your troll and then do your best to egg it on in the arena. Ron had won the first game and Malfoy snidely commented that this was only because he was able to think like one.  
  
Just as Liselle was coaxing her troll through a swamp, Merlin walked into the room carrying something furry, black and limp in his right hand. He walked right up to Malfoy and dropped it on the table in front of him.  
  
"My snake ! How did you get this ?!"  
  
Malfoy said, not sure whether to be more surprised at Merlin suddenly being ok or him dropping his pet in front of him.  
  
"It's dead. It was hosting those shadow creatures. I found it in the machinery downstairs, there's a trapdoor. Those things could have been down there ever since we first came aboard, remember, it was here when we all first came in. I reckon, Malfoy, your dad got them to use its body. It would have been put here before it was fully protected for the journey, and he knows at least part of the prophecy, he knew it wouldn't be disturbed because you would be the last one to come here. It slid into the mechanics, releasing those things to wreak havoc, I think those things might even have deliberately driven us into the path of that little armada of Death Eaters on purpose, kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. They would go up to the control room when none of us where there, driving us right into the hands of another set of Death Eaters probably, and then, when I was arguing with Harry, I sensed one of them was there. Only very powerful magic can kill them, that's why Dumbledore gave me that sword, he knew that somehow, I'd be the first one to notice them, plus I can fence. When you came in, I knew more of them were coming. This-" he raised his arm to show the glowing blue spot on his wrist, "-gives me some resistance to it, it means they can't kill me. They would have tried to get to anyone they could, so I did my best to protect you whilst I tried to get rid of them, but I couldn't, and some of them got to me. Sometimes I could control them. I woke up and tried to explain that you had to lock me up and charm the walls, but when I got up the stairs, they took over again. There are still eight, but we needn't fight them. When they took control of me, I could see some of their thoughts, if you can call them thoughts, they're more like incentives, they don't think. This carriage is automatically equipped with some defence against dark magic, but with some powerful spell on behalf of Lucius Malfoy, that thing was small enough to be undetected, but, there are two ways we can get rid of them, the first one will be enough, and we can do the second as a backup, wait a minute."  
  
Merlin almost ran towards the bridge, the others followed. He went up to a circular panel pressed in one purple gem stone in a circle of five.  
  
"Now you have to do it."  
  
In turn, each pressed a gem. There was a golden glow in the centre that began to hum calmly, but other than that, nothing happened. It had obviously worked though, as they turned to see a hissing dark mass of eight shadowy figures flailing out in the sky and sliding to the ground.  
  
Merlin responded to the enquiring faces. "I knew that because they had been ordered to keep us away from that panel at all costs, it can't be destroyed, and only one of us five can touch it. I've picked up another few little tricks, hang on."  
  
Merlin walked over to another mostly unspoilt panel, and pressed an intricately engraved silver button. The walls seemed to glow with an amber- gold pattern for a moment and then it subsided.  
  
"Now only we can open the doors, and everything else is sealed... I think."  
  
There was a thud from behind. Liselle had put down the manual and had a satisfied look on her face. "I've just found a nice little trick too."  
  
Liselle walked over to another console and pressed a little inset opal-like gem. There was gentle whirr, and all around them, the switches and cogs and intricate pieces of metalwork and switches began to repair themselves. The ash and debris disappeared from the floor, and within a few seconds, the entire room was in perfect condition, right down to a polished gleam on the marble consoles.  
  
After this, Merlin drew his sword. The crowd flinched, but he pointed it at his wand. A gentle white mist came from the tip of the sword and the silvery blue and white fluid that had spilled out, sucked inside the wand and the split was perfectly sealed and the two pieces joined together. Merlin slid the sword into his robes and picked up his wand and turned to Harry.  
  
Harry spoke through gritted teeth. "You're right, I wouldn't attack an un- armed man, but that's changed now hasn't it."  
  
Merlin raised his wand and pointed it at Harry, assuming a ready position. Merlin took out his sword again and passed it to Ron without looking.  
  
"Yes, circumstances have changed slightly haven't they," Liselle piped up, somewhat nervously. "This is ridiculous, everything's ok now. No more dark warriors, the room's been repaired. It's ok- why are you doing this, it's stupid."  
  
Harry replied, "He's a danger to us, can't you see, he-"  
  
Merlin interrupted, "You don't understand Liselle."  
  
The two stood there, before a shocked, speechless and powerless audience and prepared to duel as the carriage, now un-impeded, swept towards Malfoy Manor, this time, it was going to get there, but whether one of its occupants would make it, as two stood ready to attack, was unsure...  
  
"I may not understand but I'm not a stupid girl and I will not allow this to happen," Liselle muttered to herself. She pulled out her wand and raised it, Merlin and Harry were locked into some sort of Battle of Wills and had not noticed what was happening. They were circling each other, steely determination on each face.  
  
Liselle's eyes hardened as she muttered "Expelliarmus" and then "Petrificus Totalus". Both Merlin and Harry were disarmed and paralysed. Ron and Malfoy looked shocked as the fire in Liselle's eyes intensified and the anger that she had been bottling up burst forth. "It had to be done," she shrugged. "Don't worry, I won't do this to you." With another flick of her wand she moved the inert Merlin and Harry into the living area. Malfoy and Ron took the couch by the window as Liselle guided Merlin and Harry to the leather armchairs opposite. She herself stood in the centre of the room.  
  
Reaching out she touched both of her spellbound friends with her wand, immediately they became re-animated but were disoriented. They stopped quickly once they noticed the stony silence and their wands safe in Liselle's hands.  
  
"Right," she announced. "We have a problem and I intend to solve it." Merlin started to say something but she threateningly raised her wand and continued. "You will listen to what I'm going to say and I will not be interrupted. This has continued for too long, I don't care if you don't think I understand, or if I'm wasting our time, this has gone far enough. We aren't leaving this carriage until we come to some sort of understanding. You cannot get out of this carriage without your wands and I will keep them until this mess is cleaned up-" this was aimed at Merlin and Harry, "-and you two-" Ron and Malfoy, "-will not leave here without the rest of us. So I suggest that you all sit back and open your ears! You are going to take turns at explaining your behaviours. I apologise if my disarming and petrifying you both was dramatic but it at least caught your attention, which is what I was aiming for. Let me remind you both that you are meant to be at least allies, and I had thought you were both my friends." At this she turned away and began pacing the room, anger clearly radiating from her every pore much to the surprise of the others (Liselle was known for being easy going and cheerful).  
  
Abruptly she turned and pointed to Harry. "You," she said. "You will begin, and you-" she said, pointing her wand at Merlin again, "-will not interrupt him, as he will not interrupt you once you begin."  
  
Harry began his side of the story.  
  
"The first that I heard of the prophecy of Merlin was when we staged our kidnapping at Hogsmeade. Dumbledore explained to me that we had been chosen to fulfil a prophecy of great importance, Merlin is the one who knows most, being the great Merlin's descendant but I know things that none of you know that I cannot reveal just yet. Dumbledore has forced me to promise not to reveal certain information until we reach a certain point in our quest and until certain portents have been seen and read by me. When I met you all in the Dripping Keg, I was called into the office." At this he paused, Liselle glared at him to continue. Gulping at her look he went on, "The clerk in the office was the head of the Department of Mysteries, who gave me yet more information on what I am expected to do. All I know is that I am meant to... betray Merlin, I don't know how, when, where or why but that's what I was told. Merlin was told about this, why I'm not sure, I thought that it was a test or something until I saw Merlin come out of the office later on and he gave me a look that spoke volumes to me. I think that is why he has been suspicious of me since the start, that's why you have been following me, watching me and trying to bait me isn't it Merlin, you think that just because you were given the sword, and you have that blue mark on your arm that you're some kind of hero, or leader or something but you haven't once thought what your behaviour was doing to the rest of the group, the strains you were putting on the relationships that already exist. You just kept on pushing, thinking your self important thoughts that you alone could stop what has already been foretold, going against what you honestly know has to happen and will happen... it has been foretold and it will not be stalled."  
  
Again Merlin began to speak but a glare from Liselle stopped him dead in his tracks, Ron looked gobsmacked but Malfoy had a sneer on his face.  
  
"Typical of you Potter, trying to blame everyone else for your shortcomings. I should have known that you would be the weak link in all this..."  
  
"Shut it Malfoy," Liselle said icily. "This is a serious matter, nothing to sneer at, I don't see why you're bragging and trying to provoke Harry. Remember that it was Merlin and Harry that saved your skin from your father, we are what stands between you and him and it was also your snake that nearly caused our death... remember that before you open your mouth again."  
  
Again she began to pace the room, her expression and thoughts hidden from all of them. A tapping at the window made them all look up, it was the Pegasus  
  
They had all noticed the Pegasus, but Merlin interrupted, as he began to tell his side of the story. He looked oddly calm considering what had just happened, and was looking incredibly patronisingly at Harry. As Merlin began to speak, everyone's attention was diverted to him.  
  
"You know Liselle, I'm surprised at you, I would have thought that you of all people would know I don't absolutely need a wand to do magic, sure, it'd be hard, but I don't need that to duel with him." He stared at his wand, which Liselle hadn't noticed was smoking and squirming to get free, but she was holding it to tightly. "However, as you're playing diplomat to us all today, I may as well explain just one of the reasons he needs to be sent back where he comes from." He shot a terrible penetrating stare at Harry, who, still angry, flinched a little. "I could go on and on. Oh, and by the way Harry, you shouldn't be so sure of what you've been told, and I assure you, I don't think I'm any hero."  
  
The crowd looked on at the tension. Harry looked like he wanted to say something, but he just grimaced.  
  
Merlin continued. "You, Mr Potter, are the heir of Voldemort," he spat, looking up and down at Harry, almost in disgust.  
  
The shock in the room could not be expressed by words. Most were speechless, Ron had gasped in terror, Liselle just stood, unblinking, mouth slightly open, eyes wide, Malfoy was edging behind an armchair. If finding out Mad eye Moody was being controlled by a Death Eater back in Hogsmeade was a surprise, this was twice as horrific and on a par with a revelation. Harry was the first to speak, in utter shock and almost despair.  
  
"What, that's not true, who can.."  
  
Merlin, who was the only one who wasn't in shock replied in a nasty tone. "Save your breath Potter."  
  
Merlin reached inside his robes and pulled out a neat little piece of parchment, bearing swirly lettering of bright blue. He put it in front of him, arm out stretched and read, "One of the purest line shall venture, brave and strong and of good nature, that's me I think, One of learning, wit and wisdom, descended from the long lost Kingdom, that's you Liselle, One of Good heart, loyal and Bold, who holds hidden secrets of the old. That's you Ron." Ron's ears went slightly pink. "One of sly and corrupted soul, but sharing of the common goal, I needn't say who that is, oh, and who's this, the last one," he said sarcastically. "Finally one more shall follow, he who did at Godric's Hollow, savour power of his morrow, tainted on the evil hour, halt of death did give him power, from the Darkest Lord he took, what is not written in any book, thus, strength exchanged, the first carrier fled, removed of greatness and almost dead, the heir of darkness was reborn, in new and innocent, unrealised form. That, is a direct extract from the First Merlin Prophecy."  
  
Merlin flung the piece of parchment, disgusted, into Harry, who caught it when it fell into his arms and, half collapsed, onto a sofa, staring into nothingness.  
  
"And there's plenty more were that came from." They were words of utter contempt. Forget magic, Merlin looked like he was ready to chuck Harry out a porthole.  
  
Merlin, without saying anything, raised his hand, and his wand flew out of Liselle's grasp and into his palm. "You know Potter, I wouldn't even want to waste my energy duelling with you. I might slip and end up killing you."  
  
He slipped his wand into a pocket and walked up to Liselle, who was still staring. Liselle threw Harry's wand back over to him without saying a word. Merlin turned round to face Harry again, although he was now with the rest of the crowd.  
  
"And I assure you, you don't have any prior knowledge of events that will be unfolding here, nor will you ever be given any. It's all written Potter, none of us are free to do as wish, we, all of us exist only to follow a script that is so contorted by riddles, double meaning, metaphor and shadow, that we take it as the unpredictability of real life. Rarely will truth be so blatently revealed to us, like in the Merlin prophecies. My even vaguest understanding of future events here ended yesterday, as did Dumbledore's, as did anyone's. Some people have power thrust upon them Potter, it doesn't mean they neither want it, or will use it to its best cause. Power corrupts, and total power corrupts totally, that's why Merlin never wrote the Great Prophecy, that that shall foretell all that shall be, all that has been, all that is and all that ever could, should, or would have been. Great magic, Potter, beyond any of our understanding, not presentable by words, beyond even Dumbledore's wisdom. The greatest power that ever could be would have been his downfall, why live if all is revealed to you ? And that Harry, is why none of us will ever be given such strengths. We are expected to rely on ourselves now, nothing more."  
  
With that, Merlin left the room, passing one of the large windows that showed Malfoy Manor below them awaiting their arrival.  
  
Ron moves towards Harry who turned away and said flatly, "Don't come near me... any of you," and left the room. Liselle, Ron and Malfoy, an unlikely trio, remained looking at each other without a thing to say. Ron began a few times but stopped before any words come out.  
  
The descent to Malfoy Manor was swift, the Pegasus that Merlin had called Peggy remained outside the carriage, like some sort of guard of honour. Malfoy began to get more and more nervous the closer they came to the house, and by the time that they landed on the manicured lawns outside it, he was totally agitated. Liselle gave him a disapproving frown and he tried to contain himself. The carriage glided to a halt. Outside the windows showed the gloom of the day. It was neither dark nor bright, which added to the uncomfortable feeling Liselle felt gnawing at her insides. Harry and Merlin emerged from their rooms and together the group descended to the lawn outside.  
  
"How are you feeling Draco?" Liselle asked an obviously worried Malfoy. He said nothing but shrugged his shoulders in response. "You know this place backwards Draco, so we need you and your wits, we want to get in, find the Orb of Shadows and get out of here as quickly as we can. You lead, the rest of us will follow," Liselle added, Ron nodded in mute agreement and Merlin and Harry said nothing at all.  
  
The band of students followed Malfoy up the magnificent but strangely sterile steps to the manor front entrance. Ron couldn't help but notice that there were intertwined serpents surrounding every window and also the front door. To him they almost seemed alive, a seething wriggling mass of scales turning to watch their every move, but this feeling he kept to himself. The entrance hall was a twin to the one that the group had seen in Bhorgal's Wood. This similarity was strangely comforting, except that this time there was no false Draco Malfoy coming down the stairs begging for their help. Instead, the real Malfoy was close to snapping point. Harry came up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder willing him to go on. Malfoy turned as if to say something but shook himself and they continued.  
  
The entrance hall was octagonal in shape with four doors on every second wall including the front door which was behind them. The double branched staircase was in front of them, one on either side of the door that was directly in front of them, the remaining two walls were taken over by enormous mirrors that continued the serpent theme, much to Ron's discomfort. They took the door to the left of them which led them into a large drawing room, the floor covered with a large green oriental style rug with dragons and yet more serpents. Harry guessed that this was the room that held the secret passage, but said nothing.  
  
They stopped at the edge of the giant rug. They said nothing for a few moments, then Malfoy spoke up.  
  
"This is where the orb is kept. It was housed in another Death Eater's house, whose exactly, I cannot say but I managed to move it. I put it here as I thought that such an obvious place wouldn't be searched by my father... I was right, who would search the house of the great Lucius Malfoy for such a sensitive item?" Merlin, who had been silent up to now gave a derisive snort which the rest of the group pointedly ignored. As one, they rolled back the rug. Malfoy retreated to the door and began a complicated series of steps and hops which once he muttered something opened a vast trap door at his feet.  
  
He began his descent by muttering, "Lumos", which the others quickly copied, the stairs down was steep, Liselle lost count of the steps and turns. Eventually they came to a stop.  
  
They stopped at a landing, Malfoy turned to address them. "Be careful where you tread from here, I know where the safe steps are, this place is second nature to me. Don't brush against any walls either and whatever you do, do not try any magic here. This place is riddled with traps of all types. Just follow me and you'll be alright." Again Merlin gave a snort, this time though Liselle had had enough and gave him a poke in the ribs with her elbow and told him to shut up. He did so unwillingly. Malfoy again played guide for a tortuous ten minutes where Ron had his eyebrows singed after narrowly ducking flame throwers from the walls after brushing against the wall.  
  
The passage opened to reveal a large room, lit by black light emanating from crevices in the wall. On raised daises there were various dark magic items, gleaming malevolently in the gloomy light. Spinning cubes with blood red gems studded on dais on their right, smoking options of all colours stood on a shelf all along the back wall. The whole chamber seemed to breathe evil. Malfoy ignored the obvious discomfort of the others, and informed them that this was merely the "ante-chamber", and that the real dark magic things lay behind the portal in front of them.  
  
"Unfortunately everyone, that's where we have to go," explained Malfoy, gesturing to the large black iron door, embedded with chunky silver studs. It looked strangely like the entrance to the Slytherin common room, which would have been an amusing quip for Harry to shoot at Malfoy, had the situation not been so bleak. Jokes seemed rather a luxury than normality for them at the moment. In fact, he wasn't sure any comment from him would have been taken too lightly anyway after Merlin's shock of a revelation about him. Even Ron seemed to be a bit off with him, although surely, after all these years of friendship, he wouldn't desert Harry now. Loss of friendship was one of the things Harry feared- as without true allies, one is nothing. He sensed a distinct detachment of the others towards him now, although, of course, this could be purely imaginary; an attack of paranoia. Still, he couldn't ponder on this any longer as Malfoy had now begun a series of complex spells on the door, presumably unlocking it.  
  
Sparks flew from his wand as he frowned in concentration. Purple smoke hissed from the edges of the door as if the room behind was full of it, and it was bursting to get out. Aiming the final blast of light from his wand right at the keyhole (which must have been there purely for traditional purposes, as wizards had long since stopped using keys), the door burst open in a flash of bright green light that made them all step back in alarm and cover their eyes with their arms. The purple smoke seemed to have only existed around the doorframe itself, and casually swirled off in a midst of sparkles into nothingness.  
  
"I don't know where for sure the Orb is, I knew this chamber existed then sent the Orb here with my wand," Malfoy explained. "My father would have killed me if he thought I'd actually been down here. Not that that would matter now, I think he's going to do that anyway," he added with a twisted, rather ironic grimace.  
  
The room ahead of them was unlike anything any of them had ever seen. More black daises rose from the floor, some standing entirely unsupported, floating far above them in mid-air. Each of them held strange and wondrous objects, some surrounded with what looked like a glowing but transparent silver bubble, which they presumed must be a protection charm of some sort. Other objects were surrounded by networks of beams of magic, like lasers that burned and corroded on contact. Some, however, were entirely unprotected.  
  
Liselle made her way over to one of them, unable to contain her curiosity. It was a large silver basin, intricately engraved with serpents and words written in an old language which looked similar to Latin. Two silver handles stood either side of the bowl, looking like rigid silver rope. Holding onto these, Liselle leaned forward and peered into its depths. It was filled with what looked like water, but it had a silvery sheen and was as still as a mirror. Beneath this however, were swirling shapes that came close to, then sped away from the surface. Liselle was startled to see a hollow looking face staring up at her mournfully from beneath the surface. It quickly disappeared and rejoined its companions as Liselle pulled away in horror. "What the hell's this?" she asked shakily.  
  
Malfoy glanced over to her from his search for the Orb. "Er, I'm not sure what it's called, but." Malfoy paused, a look of pure disgust crossing his face, ".but you all know the Dementors final weapon is the Kiss don't you?" The others nodded so he continued. "Well, while Voldemort was at his height of power, more souls were sucked from helpless victims than ever. It became more of a normality to them than it is now, so much so, that even they couldn't deal with storing so many human souls inside them. so they extracted them into this basin. That's what those shapes are under the surface. Souls of wizards unfortunate enough to cross their paths." He shuddered involuntarily, and Liselle looked as if she was going to be sick.  
  
"But that's not what we came here for," Merlin's voice rang out. "We're here for the Orb of Shadows, and the sooner we find it the better."  
  
"Well said," muttered Ron, who had been stunned into stupefied silence since they'd entered.  
  
The walls were covered in old dark wooden shelves, leaning crookedly under the weight of the multitude of objects and files stuffed with old parchments that were set on them. Not knowing quite where to look for the Orb, or what exactly it looked like they split up, searching the cavernous room from top to bottom.  
  
Harry's eyes skimmed over objects that reminded him of his fleeting visit to Borgin and Burkes in his second year at Hogwarts, when he'd seen Mr Malfoy selling Borgin some of his Dark possessions. A bronze lantern with a flickering blue flame was set up high on a dais, a small label informed him that this flame was the Flame of Mycea, an everlasting flame found only in the forbidden caves of Greece, that if put out will release the monsters that it imprisons by being alight. Harry supposed that this would be put out when Voldemort had truly returned to power- which would be never, he thought more forcefully as he continued his search.  
  
Suddenly. there it was. On one of the highest podiums, surrounded by much larger object that had been concealing it, was the Orb of Shadows. It was much smaller than Harry had thought, about the size of a large grapefruit. A perfect sphere made of glitteringly shiny glass shone above him. Even from his place on the ground Harry could see the swirls of murky brown shadow writhing inside it. Instinctively, he called, "Merlin, come here- I've found it!", then cursed himself for making contact with him- after all they were hardly on speaking terms.  
  
The other four hurriedly joined him and gazed upward at the floating daises.  
  
"Well that's all very well, but how are we going to get it?" asked Ron.  
  
Without a word, Merlin had pulled his wand from his robes and was muttering a spell. Liselle looked at him highly disapprovingly as Malfoy had already warned them about using magic in here. A white glittering smoke protruded from his wand, encircling him. As if now possessing wings, Merlin floated up to the Orb while the others watched in wonder. He looked at it for a moment, then proclaimed, "This is too easy."  
  
"Just take it Merlin, and we can get out of here! There nothing protecting it, just take it!" Malfoy shouted.  
  
Seeing nothing else that could be done, Merlin reached out a hand and grabbed the Orb, then floated back to the ground. He opened his mouth to say something, but what that was, no one ever found out because at that second, the door to their chamber burst open. They all span around. Standing, glowering at them from the doorway was a tall man, wand in hand.  
  
"Father!" Malfoy gasped.  
  
*  
  
The ordeal had begun. Not yet before had the true fear of this most extraordinary series of events struck deep into the hearts of the chosen, as such, a poetic blade of realisation, the adventure had truly started. For what was but a fleeting instant, a world of pure loathing was exchanged between the five and the powerful, towering form of pure darkness that was Lucius Malfoy.  
  
Instinctively, Harry and Merlin assumed a defensive position in front of Malfoy, Merlin quickly handing the orb to Liselle, who joined Ron to flank Malfoy.  
  
Malfoy, however, pushed his way in between the four and ran up to his father, he began in a nervous tone. "Look father, I've caught them!" he said, visibly shaking, turning to point at Harry, Ron, Merlin and Liselle. "Look father, I bought them to you, I caught them trying to break into the vault, I came back to protect the Orb, and look father, I've caught them for you."  
  
"Stand aside you foolish boy, lest I forget my blood," replied Lucius in a typically nasty tone.  
  
"But father, I'm your son, I pledge my allegiance to the Dark Lord." At this point, Malfoy knelt down in front of Lucius, trembling.  
  
It was a truly pathetic site to behold. Lucius completely ignored Malfoy and strode, a look of contained and channelled fury in his step, over to Merlin. "Hand me the Orb child."  
  
Merlin raised an eyebrow and replied coolly, "What orb?"  
  
Lucius swiftly turned his attention to Ron, "The orb boy, give it to me."  
  
Ron seemed more shaken, but he did his best to muster an innocent looking shrug. Lucius seemed to be loosing his patience. "Ahhh, Potter, I have waited too long for this moment, but first, the Orb."  
  
Malfoy was still sobbing in a little heap, crying out his commitment to the family line. Harry said nothing, but Lucius had caught sight of Liselle. He turned his head to face her. "Ah yes, of course, Miss Lafelle, I should have known."  
  
Liselle put on a firm face as Lucius made towards her. He knew she had the Orb. He reached inside his robes and pulled out his wand. "I don't have time for childish games, girl."  
  
He came right up to Liselle and raised his wand, Liselle reached for her own wand, but with a flick of his hand, Liselle's wand was thrown high into the air. Lucius raised his arm and readied himself, but suddenly, he stumbled over and fell, with a thud, clutching his back. Merlin had kicked him.  
  
"Liselle, RUN !"  
  
Liselle shot off at incredible speed, dodging the podiums and odd devices. Lucius raised his wand but Harry shouted, "Expelliarmus!", and it shot across the floor. Merlin took the opportunity to punch Lucius. He was thrown off, but a quick Accio had his wand back in hand. He threw a spell that knocked both Harry and Merlin backwards, he darted his gaze around for Liselle who was still running.  
  
Ron threw something black and slithery like an over-legged spider that grasped round Lucius's face, forcing him to stumble around whilst he tried to pull it off. Ron took the opportunity to run for it, knocking something heavy over as he ran past another podium. Merlin had cast some powerful spell at Lucius whilst he was struggling with black, over-appendaged creature. The spell had surrounded Lucius with some sort of white glow that he was struggling to free himself from, but he was soon out, and dangerous. Merlin directed his wand at himself and he was gone in blur, Harry running as fast as he could behind. Malfoy had also run off after Liselle and Ron, dodging flashes of light that Lucius was directing at them. But after a few seconds, they stopped.  
  
The five turned round briefly, but enough to see grey, shadowy shapes drifting round Lucius, attacking and blocking his aim. They also noticed a large silver bowl on the ground next to a podium, the one that Ron had knocked over. The souls of the Dementor's victims had escaped and were retaliating against Lucius. For endless time they ran through passages and corridors, hearing the groans and curses of Lucius Malfoy behind them, trying to defend himself against the flailing grey, misty shapes. They passed what seemed like a hundred doors, countless arches, all of which they slammed shut behind them, until the distant sounds of Lucius Malfoy faded with distance and were blocked. Eventually, they stopped in small, circular, dungeon like room behind a huge metal door they had just sealed. There were five doors. They all knew what they had to do. Everyone was aware of Malfoy's cowardliness, but he seemed to have forgotten about he pledge to the Dark Lord, and seemed more concerned with escaping, and this wasn't the time to argue. Each took a different door. Each ran through what seemed like endless corridors. Both Liselle and Ron came face to face with shadow demons, but managed to fend them off with a few well-placed spells and continued running, although a little faint and disorientated from the conflict, until Ron, Liselle and Draco emerged in a small room with one door. The obvious was quick to come up.  
  
"Where are the other two?" asked Liselle apprehensively.  
  
The other two shrugged. Seconds later, there was a whooshing sound coming from the only other door in the room. With a quick glance at each other, they heaved they door open. What they saw was beyond belief.  
  
The first thing wasn't all too unbelievable, but nonetheless disturbing, Harry and Merlin were duelling, Harry loosing quite badly. But this was no ordinary room, it was perfectly spherical, made out of dark stone, but as they were duelling, Harry and Merlin were running up the walls! It was as if gravity behaved differently in the room. Harry would duck to avoid a spell, only for Merlin to jump off the ceiling and land directly in front of him, to fight again. It went on and on, each of the other bouncing off the walls, running up to the ceiling, and jumping down the walls to the floor, it was as if the room was designed to disorientate.  
  
Liselle raised her wand and moved forwards to stop the fight, but was flung backwards by some invisible force when she tried to leave the corridor. Liselle insisted on casting spell after spell at the opening in order to get through, but she couldn't. Merlin's eyes were a flashing turquoise. He was whirling around the room like some sort of over charged spinning top. He was jumping over Harry, only to end up on the ceiling, directing another spell, only a few of which Harry was able to dodge. Merlin almost looked as if he was enjoying it. His expression was one of pure malice. He wasn't using the sword, but he looked ready too. Harry was in a mess. He'd proved he was a fair dueller at Hogwarts, but Merlin seemed to have had some sort of advanced training. Harry's hair was even messier than usual. His glasses were no-where to be seen, he looked like he'd been burnt as well at some point. He was cut, bruised, bleeding, and looked heavily dazed, he was only just managing to keep his eyes fixed on Merlin who was flying all around him like a deranged wasp. Another flash of blue, and Harry was flung at incredible speed up to the ceiling (or at least the ceiling from this perspective). He was slammed against a wall and only had time to get up before he was thrown back against another wall. He only had time to Accio his wand back to him before it was shot out of his hand and he was slammed up against another wall. Another spell, and Merlin was clutching his wand with both hands as Harry was suspended in the air, pushing at his waist as if he was being squeezed. A few seconds later and Merlin either couldn't hold the spell or got bored with it and tried another.  
  
Liselle was almost in tears trying to get through the spells guarding the entrance. Ron just stood, looking, powerless, Malfoy seemed to think it was quite funny. Eventually, Harry fainted. At least, that's what they hoped had happened. He didn't look dead, and Merlin hadn't used a curse that would have killed him. Merlin stood, looking around, and then shouted, "Where is it? Where's Potter?"  
  
Liselle quickly found the spell around the entrance had been dropped and ran into the circular room and down the wall to Harry's limp body. She turned round his head and felt for his pulse. "He's alive, just."  
  
The others ran down to join her, but Merlin just kept staring up at the ceiling shouting, "Where is it? Tell me where it is!"  
  
Liselle stood up, walked up to Merlin and slapped him round the face.  
  
"What the hell do you think you were doing? You could have killed him. I know we should be weary of him, I've had my doubts, but that wasn't necessary."  
  
Merlin seemed shocked. "What ?"  
  
"What do you mean, what?! You nearly killed Harry!" Liselle was beside herself.  
  
"Oh that, it isn't him, check his pulse, he won't have one."  
  
Liselle replied, unbelieving. "I have checked his pulse, and yes he does have one, just about."  
  
Merlin looked surprised and slightly embarrassed. "Oh no, it was a trick, I should have known it, you didn't tell me he was a shadow demon, did you ?"  
  
Liselle was lost. "What are you going on about ?"  
  
"When I was in the corridors, you told me you'd found out I was going to have to fight Harry to get the Orb of Shadows, but not to worry, it was just a test, it wasn't really him, and it was a trial to see how much I really wanted the Orb. I didn't take time to ask how you knew, I just thought you'd found out somehow, you must have been inhabited by a shadow demon, they're trying to kill us off."  
  
Liselle noticed that Merlin didn't seem to care that he'd bashed Harry up to the point he'd fainted.  
  
"But I have the Orb. " she responded, shocked at Merlin's forgetfulness.  
  
"No you don't, Malfoy never had it either. That was a fake, I had an idea it might be, but I knew when you were running away from Lucius. From the inside, the Orb is indestructible, so the demon army that it contains cannot escape, but it's so fragile to the touch that the slightest knock will break it, releasing the demons and their Dark lords. When you were running away, you knocked it against one of those podiums when you were dodging one of Lucius's curses. If that were real, we'd all be dead by now, I know that much just by reading, I studied dark objects once when I was travelling with my parents."  
  
Liselle stared for a while, and then replied. "Then how are we supposed to get it?"  
  
Merlin made a subtle facial expression that suggested he had no idea. "I thought I was going to get it when I passed this, erm, test." He frowned slightly, looked down at the burnt and battered pile that was Harry and then looked back up at Liselle to give a small, sarcastic little smile. "I tell you what though, that certainly got a lot off my chest." He looked down at Harry again and raised his eyebrows slightly. "You would have thought he'd put up a bit more of a fight wouldn't you, although, I'm guessing the demons got inhabited Ron for a while, like they did you, and got him to say something similar." Merlin let out a little amused snort.  
  
Liselle was disgusted. Malfoy was being very quiet and Ron still looked like he was still recovering from being inhabited by a shadow demon, of which he had no recollection.  
  
"Why didn't they kill us? You said we'd die if they inhabited us," asked Liselle.  
  
"Well, they needed you then, and only for a short period of time."  
  
Liselle seemed satisfied but didn't say anything. It was a disastrous situation. They were locked in a huge, booby trapped Manor, full of Dark Magic, with a powerful Death Eater pursuing them. They didn't have the Orb of Shadows. They were being followed by hordes of shadow demons, they had no idea where they were or how to get out, with the Orb or without it, and Ron had just noticed that this odd room that they were in, designed to disorientate, whose ceilings were its floors and vice-versa, was covered wall to wall by hundreds upon hundreds of identical circular doors, all of which were closed, even the one they had come from, but which one that was, he couldn't tell.  
  
Liselle fell to the ground and gave a despairing wail, and sobbed quietly to herself. "We had it, I had it." Unused to such emotion the others shuffled their feet and looked at the ground nervously hoping that she would pull herself together. She did. Standing straight, she pulled out her wand and murmured the four point spell taught to her by Hermione. Surprisingly, even amongst all the dark magic and problems that they were encountering, it worked. Her wand pointed to true north. Turning to Malfoy, she beckoned him to her saying, "Draco, you know that you are the only one who can get us out of here. This place is riddled with dark magic intertwined with the blood of your family, therefore to defeat this maze, you have to believe that you can get us out of here and back to the chamber where the real orb is still located." Merlin looked slightly put out at this but didn't complain. Malfoy looked uncomfortable as Liselle's steady gaze pinned him to the spot, but eventually he nodded his assent.  
  
At this point Harry was beginning to come around, Ron motioned Merlin out of Harry's direct line of vision. Somehow, Ron had found and repaired Harry's glasses which he was holding for his friend, waiting for him to come through. A few moments after he began to stir, Harry opened his eyes and looked up. next he tried to sit up, but Liselle pushed him back down.  
  
"Not so soon buster, you gave us quite a fright. You have been in the wars with Merlin but it was all a misunderstanding... well most of it anyway," she said, shooting Merlin a glance before continuing. "Rest up for a while, I need to go over with Malfoy what he needs to do."  
  
"I learnt about this from my Grandmother, I may not be pure blooded but I come close, my magic is just as powerful as yours Merlin, although I don't feel the need to flaunt it continually, my Grandmother was a powerful mage and seer. Some of her powers have been passed to me, mages have the ability to see past what most others cannot, thus in a situation like the one in which we find ourselves, I have a solution... or I hope I have, anyway." Liselle grinned wryly, Ron keep an eye on Harry and Merlin. "There's some work that I need to do with Malfoy."  
  
And with that they moved a little way away.  
  
Malfoy had a grim look of determination on his face as Liselle and he moved a little apart from the others. "What are you going to do to me?" he asked.  
  
Liselle looked at him in surprise. "Do to you? No, you've got it all wrong, I'm going to teach you how to use the doors here in this room, its part of my mage training, although to be honest I've neglected it recently, I think that I remember enough to teach you to open the doors. Frankly Malfoy, this had better work, otherwise I can't think of anything else to do." Malfoy nodded.  
  
"Ok," Liselle said. "First things first, you don't hold your wand in your wand hand, you hold it in your other hand, I know it feels weird, but you need to get used to the feeling and semi-comfortable with it before we go any further, so give it a wave for a while and tell me how it feels."  
  
Clumsily, Malfoy waved his wand in the 'wrong hand' but fairly soon he got more comfortable with it. Liselle glanced across the room where she spotted Ron sitting between a still very groggy Harry and a quietly angry Merlin (Liselle could tell by Merlin's very posture that he was very, very angry, but with what she did not know. Was it with himself? Was it with her? With Harry? Or was it the fact that it was up to Malfoy whether they got out of this mess or not that really got to him the most). Still she was relieved that no-one was duelling at that moment.  
  
Returning to face Malfoy she nodded her praise at his progress. "Good, not perfect but under the circumstances better than I had hoped for. Next things next, you have to believe that you can touch the door, reach out your hand and believe that you will touch something, remember, belief is key to this."  
  
Doubtingly, Malfoy stretched out his hand...and found nothing. "This is hopeless," he fumed, "I should never have listened to you."  
  
Liselle stepped towards him. "Get a grip Malfoy, you can do this, you will do this even if we spend the rest of our lives trying, I know that you can do this and deep down, I think that he does too." She gestured towards Merlin, his expression unreadable. "Here, try again." She walked towards Malfoy and placed her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes. "Reach out again, feel the door."  
  
Liselle's magic flowed through Malfoy, conducted by her hands on his shoulders  
  
He felt it and reluctantly he reached out his hand and he felt something wooden. Shocked he turned to her and she gave him a small grin while placing her hand to her head, "Good, lets try again." This continued for some time as Malfoy began to gain more and more confidence and began to find more and more doors. An exhausted Liselle kept up encouraging him.  
  
"Right, now for the most difficult part, you have to reach out and find the door handle, open the door that will bring us back to the chamber. But first, I need a little break."  
  
With that, she slumped to the floor, holding her head in her hands, breathing deeply, after about 15 minutes or so, she staggered to her feet. "Ok," she said shakily, placing her hands on his shoulders once more. "You need to reach out for the door with your wand hand, next with your other hand, grip the wand tightly, remember, picture the chamber and believe that you can get us there."  
  
Malfoy nodded mutely and gripped his wand in a death grip, he reached out and fumbled for the handle, but couldn't find it. Puzzled, he turned to her.  
  
"Don't look at me, look within yourself," Liselle scolded. The second time round, Malfoy successfully opened the door. Liselle grinned weakly and beckoned the others over, even Harry managed to stumble through the door and the five of them landed back into the chamber where Liselle promptly collapsed heavily on the floor, completely exhausted, her first task completed.  
  
Merlin knelt down next to Liselle and tried to help her up (completely ignoring Harry who, Ron having left his side, had also collapsed on the floor). Merlin helped her up and propped her against the chamber wall. It took a few minutes, but eventually she came round. She wasn't quite up to talking though, so Merlin was the first to talk.  
  
"Well, no offence Draco, but frankly, I don't see where this has got us. We're back where we started, in some room in a spooky house full of dark magic, we don't have the Orb, and your father's snooping around ready to kill us."  
  
Malfoy readied to defend himself, but after a thoughtful pause, he seemed to think the same. Harry was still in a pile in a corner, Ron trying to help him up, Merlin considering what to do next, Liselle still recovering, Malfoy a bit exhausted and not much else.  
  
Merlin, again broke the silence, "Well, logic would seem to suggest..."  
  
He paused and walked back to the opening. Liselle managed to come up to him more out of curiosity, but still didn't seem to have the strength to speak, Malfoy also looked on, Harry was still unconscious, and Ron, he didn't seem to be able to do anything to help him, stood up and looked on as well. Merlin stood at the opening and raised both his hands in front of him and then quickly swept them aside as if opening up a large roll of parchment. There was a loud rumbling sound and all the little circular doors in the spherical room flung open violently. One opening stood out, there was an acid green glow coming from it. Their path was clear. The five made for the door, and, the Orb.  
  
Liselle managed to make it to the next chamber before collapsing again, the channelling of her energy into Malfoy took more out of her than she realised. When she managed to sit up again, she saw that the Orb of Shadows was floating about five feet off the ground emitting an acid green eerie glow. The others were gathered in a circle around it, looking, no- one was touching it. She stood to join the others and cocked her head inquisitively at the Orb.  
  
She stretched out her hands towards the glowing mass, just stopping short of touching it. Ron looked at her worriedly, but he need not have worried. Liselle stood, her face illuminated by the other worldly glow. Merlin came and stood by her side, nodding as if he understood something that the others did not. He too stretched out his hands, just as Liselle had done before him. As one they reached into the orb, Liselle with one hand though, the other one was drawing something from inside her cloak. It was a silver gauze like bag, Ron saw it clearly and was puzzled. She shook the bag and it enlarged into something resembling a medium sized rug. Then she deftly threw it over the orb where Merlin caught its four corners and gathered them together so that the silver material formed a sack again. The room had now become very dark and Harry coming to his senses waved his wand muttering "lumos". The sack was still gripped tightly in Merlin's left hand, Liselle tapped his shoulder and he released it to her.  
  
"What was that material?" Ron voicing the question of the other three asked.  
  
Liselle sighed and answered, "Its griffin skin, I was given this by my grandmother, this just felt like the right time to use it. It is as you know, extremely rare and valuable, just the thing for handling such dangerous items as the Orb of Shadows. Now I think that as we have the Orb, we should go and deposit to someone who will take care of it, what do you think of giving it to Dumbledore?" Everyone nodded their agreement.  
  
"Do you remember that plate that appeared in the hut in Bhorgal's forest, who has it? I think that its some sort of time-delayed Portkey. I think that it's timed to bring us to the next part of our quest, but only when we have completed this part."  
  
Ron nodded. "That seems to make sense, I think that I have it, let me check my robe."  
  
"That shouldn't take long Weasley," Malfoy sneered, in a true return to form turning down his nose at Ron's worn robes.  
  
"Shut up Malfoy," Liselle said rolling her eyes.  
  
Ron blushed deep scarlet but continued searching his pockets, rubbish falling out everywhere, finally he pulled it out, dislodging what appeared to be enough hankies to do a small army with the flu and a mound of parchment that he hurriedly stuffed back into his pockets but not before Malfoy grabbed a piece, reading it he thrust it back laughing at Ron.  
  
"This is what you spent all that time in your room doing!" And, as Ron's blush darkened even more, "You a sparts writer, don't make me laugh."  
  
"Give it a rest, Malfoy," Harry began. "We've a lot more left to do, at least Ron has some ambition and he has his families backing too. You have nothing, your father will probably come after you next term, all you have is us and your wits... don't push your luck with either."  
  
"Quiet, all of you!" Liselle barked. "Ron give me the plate. Now! Ok guys, gather around everyone place a finger on the plate and we'll see what happens next."  
  
There was a powerful flash of white, and then the next thing the five knew, they were zooming past diverse scenery. Houses, fields, rivers, mountains, all shrouded in a fast moving misty plume of colours. After a split second of landscapes whizzing past, they stopped with a jolt, and once again felt solid ground beneath their feet. They were somewhere familiar, but it was different in some way, and the fact that they'd just been thrust over a what seemed like a few hundred miles in less than a second didn't help either. After a few seconds, the five had re-oriented them selves and realised where they were, Diagon Alley, but they were right, there was something different about it, it was completely deserted, apart from the occasional face at a window, looking around apprehensively, wand ready, at the sound of their arrival. They were just in front of the entrance to Gringotts, just below the impressive set of shallow marble steps that affronted the building's gold edged front doors. A goblin was hobbling down the steps. He stopped half way down.  
  
"You there, follow me, Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you in the lobby."  
  
Unaware of what to expect, the five followed the goblin up the steps, closely eyed by four odd creatures that looked like a mix between gargoyles and lions that the five had originally mistaken for stone statues. The creatures seemed to be guarding the entrance to the bank. They passed through the large oak doors (which the Goblin had had to unlock with about 12 different keys, say something to in hushed whispers, and knock in a complicated pattern). They then passed through some sort of magical field that made their outlines glow a bright gold, through a large hall (that none of them had noticed on their previous visits, normally it was straight into the lobby and then to the counting tables and the cart track that took you to the vaults).  
  
The hall was about a hundred metres long, with an arched ceiling who's uppermost features you could barely make out. If you squinted at the high- vaulted ceiling for long enough, you could occasionally see a glint of shiny, scaly brown, as if some odd creatures were flying around amid the beams. The hall was windowless, and although there didn't seem to be any sort of light source, it was lit with an oddly constant soft yet icy, blue glow. The walls were lined with what looked like giant suits of armour, ten times the height of a normal man. That would have been ok, other than their massive metallic heads turned to follow them down the stone-floored hall. None wished to contemplate what was beneath those helmets. A hundred metres, an entire battalion of huge suits of armour and rows upon rows of staring lion like gargoyles later, they arrived at another huge door, (although this one was made out of ancient looking, bulky-studded metal).  
  
Another series of complicated unlockings, and they entered the familiar lobby of Gringotts. It was clear now that the desertion of Diagon Alley and the extra security measures in the bank were designed to defend against the current situation, which seemed to be becoming more and more serious as the hours went on. The lobby was a grand marble-floored room, surrounded by polished wooden desks with little gold bells, and a grand open archway leading to the vast counting room, at the back of which the vaults could be accessed. Dumbledore was standing calmly in the middle of the lobby flanked by several old-looking wizards, five male, three female, and, by Dumbledore's side sat a shaggy black dog and a big ginger cat, which everyone but Ron and Harry thought was very unusual. An ever-familiar phoenix called Fawkes sat atop a nearby mahogany counter. Before the five could really grasp what was going on, Dumbledore had started talking.  
  
"Miss Lafelle, if you would give me the Orb please, it must be returned to a safe place immediately."  
  
There was a hint of urgency in Dumbledore's voice, but still its normal contemplative and calm tone. Liselle handed Dumbledore the Orb, still in the griffin skin. Dumbledore carefully unfolded the material and pointed his wand at it, muttering some incantation under his breath. What looked like tiny fine strands of cotton appeared out of thin air and formed a sort of delicate cage around the Orb in which it floated. Dumbledore handed the orb to one of the old wizards who beckoned some other wizards who were dotted around, all in dark red cloaks, and joined several goblins to the carts that led to the vaults, although it was likely this Orb wasn't going in any normal vault.  
  
"I must thank you all for what you have done. You have exceeded everyone's expectations beyond our imagination, but I have to inform you that your true challenges have only just begun. The Orb is safe for now, and one of Voldemort's greatest powers has been stopped. In his first reign, Voldemort created an army of creatures, and this Orb contains a large chunk of that army. Some of them had been leaked out by the darkest wizards since Voldemort, some of which you undoubtedly encountered, but only Voldemort himself has the power to release the full army. Those that escaped will be returned to the Orb once it has been safely placed in the vault. Once again I thank you, but now I must go to consult the P.O.M. I must tell you however, that none of this is compulsory, but you will do it, no matter how much you try to resist. Your next destination is the ministry of Magic. Mr Griphook will show you to the Portkey room."  
  
Sure enough, a goblin appeared from a door and beckoned them in. Dumbledore had long since disappeared, probably Apparated to the P.O.M, whatever that was. The Gringotts was an impressive room indeed. A huge domed room lined with hundreds of labelled gold panels and jewels the size of dinner plates, which were obviously the Portkeys. Griphook guided them to a large Purple jewel about the size of a bathroom mirror, perfectly circular, with a little engraved gold panel above it that read, 'The Ministry of Magic, Quinpole, Cambridge.'  
  
"Where's Quinpole?" asked Liselle inquisitively.  
  
"In Cambridge," replied Ron in a mock patronising tone.  
  
"It's an unplottable area of Cambridge, not accessible by Muggles, it's the location of the Ministry of Magic and all the department buildings. The Ministry also houses the European Wizard's Council, The Round Table, The British Governor's Chamber and The Magisterial Senate of Sorcery, that's the global ruling board for the magical community. Its location traditionally varies, but it's been housed at the top of the Ministry Dome for centuries. The P.O.M is the Parliament of magic, often just called the Pom. It's in London, not far away from the muggle's parliament actually, although they can't see it of course, full name "Parliament of the magical peoples of Britain". It's where all the magical community heads from around Britain gather to discuss events and propose new laws. It's purely British institution. Fudge presides over it, but he has most to do with The Ministry. What's been discussed in the P.O.M goes straight to the British Chamber of Governors, a group of Scholars and great wizards elected by the P.O.M who arrange matters for Britain. The P.O.M can challenge it if they refuse anything they propose of course. No one quite knows what happens at the Round Table, but Dumbledore's supposed to be a member of it. The P.O.M is purely for discussion and debate, and then the relevant parts of the Ministry augment its decisions. Fudge is in charge of controlling all the functions of the Ministry and participating in parliament..."  
  
"Ok ok, enough with the politics lecture," interrupted Malfoy. Merlin didn't bother responding.  
  
"All touch the gem stone please," said Griphook.  
  
The five complied, and another Portkey journey ensued. They soon felt grass beneath their feet. They were in a large neatly tended garden, like a golf course, but it was a lawn, a lawn in front of the Ministry of Magic. A huge building. A massive, beautiful structure shaped like a Christmas pudding. It was made out of some stone that looked like sandstone, but it was smooth and stronger. The building was huge, at least a hundred floors. Covering the top quarter of the building was an incredibly intricate yet vast set of stained glass windows, in fact the entire top was stained glass. Thousands of windows, mere dots from this distance, little blue gems studding and covering the smooth stone. Surrounding the building were several attached towers, matched by two sets of larger, separate towers. Those must have housed the main departments. Around this, was what looked like a small city of towers and buildings, a sprawling yet smart mass of buildings that must have been administrative and smaller departments, all connected at some point.  
  
Hundreds of owls busily swooped over head, as well as a variety of different forms of transport including people on broomsticks, a lot of small. floating silver spheres that seemed to be so uniform and numerous they must have been the official transport of the Ministry. Liselle had just noticed their carriage was parked neatly on the lawn beside them, guarded closely by Merlin's Pegasus. Before she could point this out, an old looking wizard walked up to them, or rather Merlin. He looked in a hurry, and a bit flustered.  
  
He walked straight up to Merlin as if he had something urgent to tell him, and began to speak. "Merlin Carterius procedit solo ex cathedra ad Ambrosia."  
  
Merlin looked shocked and confused, the other were more confused than anything. "What, on my own ?" he asked, no one understood the response accept the old wizard.  
  
"Dumbledore asked me to convey the message to you." The wizard shook his head as if to say he didn't know why either, with a slight shrug of his shoulders he said, "I understand as little as anyone, but it is written."  
  
"Very well, I suppose I'd better go then." Merlin replied.  
  
"Be quick, we don't have much time, you'll need this." The old man handed Merlin what looked like a large, very old, folded up map. Merlin nodded and turned round to the dumbfounded other four.  
  
"I'll be gone for a while. There's something I have to do, but you shouldn't need me whilst I'm gone."  
  
With that, he made an expression as if to say good bye and ran off towards the Pegasus. It bent down to let him mount, Merlin seemed to whisper something in its ear, and then it sprang off with incredible speed, flapping its giant wings into the air until it was just a dot, and then, not visible.  
  
"The rest of you must follow me, come on quickly, time is short, I don't like to rush you, but we have pressing needs that must be attended to."  
  
He walked briskly in the direction of the large central building with the stained glass top. They were at least ten minutes walk away from it, and as they got closer, its sheer vastness became more and more apparent. after five minutes walking, they could no longer see the top, no matter how hard they stared. There were, however, some yellowy gold gleams visible circling the building, which must have been some sort of creatures guarding the building, but they couldn't have been natural, as they were glowing mistily, they must have been some sort of magical charm. It was only as they approached the huge, grand, polished mahogany doors that they began to wonder what challenge could possibly come next...  
  
*  
  
The old wizard paused at the great mahogany doors before they swung noiselessly open. The entrance hall of the Minestry of Magic was magnificent. The walls were polished until they gleamed quietly, the mahogany front door lent an ancient feel to the place. There were crystal light fittings on the walls that shimmered, reflecting the gently light in their every face. The floor was marble with a copy of the ministry crest inlay. The gold-gleams that the foursome had noticed outside were not apparent inside but the feeling of magic was so strong that the group could feel it tingling in their fingers. The old wizard smiled as he noticed their curiosity and awe.  
  
"Wait here," he said as he strode down one of the corridors.  
  
Ron looked gobsmacked as he looked around him. "Blimey," was all that he could manage. Even Malfoy looked a little awed.  
  
In no-time at all, the old wizard returned with a companion, a slender woman with golden hair dressed in emerald green robes.  
  
Liselle was flustered "Aunt Esmerelda..."  
  
The woman approached her and embraced her. "My niece," she said warmly. "I'm so proud of you, but there's still much more for you to do, follow me and I will try to explain."  
  
Liselle nodded and beckoned to the others to follow her and her aunt. Harry who had been especially quiet up to now nudged Ron in the ribs muttering, "I wonder what this is all about, I can't believe Merlin running away like that, without even an explanation, typical of him."  
  
Ron frowned at him and shook his head. "He didn't run away and you know that, he's on business for Dumbledore, I know you don't like him but come on Harry, get a grip will you!" At this stage, Esmerelda had led them up a number of stair cases through a number of impressive chambers and what seemed like backwards until they came to a stop.  
  
"Please have a seat, there is much I have to tell you and in little time, first though, you must all be starving." The minute she said this Ron's stomach grumbled loudly and he grinned at her. With a negligent wave of her arm, she conjured a delicious lunch commanding them to tuck in as she spoke  
  
"As you know I'm Liselle's aunt. I have not seen her for some time but I have followed her progress closely. It was my mother- your grandmother, Liselle, that informed me of your undertaking of this mammoth task. I cannot say that I am surprised, I know that from the outside you are an unlikely choice but there are things that you do not know about our family, not even Dumbledore knows that make your selection seem more likely than perhaps anyone else's, including Merlin's". Liselle looked a little shocked at this but said nothing as Esmerelda continued. "However this is not time for catching up on family history, I must acquaint you with the details of your next phase of operation."  
  
"You saw Merlin leave earlier," Esmerelda began. "He has been asked to visit the lair of Lord Voldemort."  
  
"What?!" gasped Liselle.  
  
"Don't worry, he's entirely safe, he's visiting in a similar manner to observing memories in a pensieve. I trust you've all entered another's memory through a pensieve before now?" Esmerelda raised her topaz eyes to the group, all of which nodded. "Good. Well, Merlin is entering the vicinity of Voldemort through a memory. the memory of one of his Death Eaters who have been captured. Since it is a memory, it is not entirely up to date, but the Deatheater in question was only captured yesterday, so Merlin must observe the memory as soon as possible so we are not too behind the times with the goings on."  
  
This was rather confusing, but the four didn't like to ask questions. They waited for Esmerelda to carry on.  
  
"We need to know how Lord Voldemort is regaining his power. What his aims are, how he is going about achieving them. As luck would have it the Deatheater stepped right into our hands, so we are able to see what he has seen and build up our own knowledge of Voldemort's recent movements. From what the Ministry can gather, we have reason to believe he is brewing Ambrosia." Esmerelda paused for breath and sipped her pumpkin juice.  
  
"Ambrosia?" asked Ron.  
  
"Yes. It is more commonly called the Elixir of Life-" Esmerelda broke off as Harry interrupted her.  
  
"But that can't be made any more- it came from the Philosopher's Stone, and Dumbledore had it destroyed last time Voldemort tried to get his hands of the Elixir of Life," he said, rather uncertainly.  
  
"True, true Harry, it can come from the Philosopher's Stone. Unfortunately however, there are many myths and legends which portray the elixir as something that may be brewed, given the correct ingredients. The ingredients however, are as mythical as the idea itself and vary from story to story. There are three common components the stories agree on- mostraka - a tropical flower that is said to grow in the Valley of the Unicorns, laysol - a sun dried herb found among the faerie's world, and alphrat - a golden mist said to be found among the spray of an enchanted waterfall. No one to date has found any of these, which is proof enough for most that they do not exist. However. Voldemort has powers beyond most and may have found a way.Currently, that is merely speculation. That is why Merlin has been sent to find out what he can of Voldemort's present movements."  
  
"I've heard about this," Liselle said slowly. "Ambrosia, I mean. Legend has it that the list of ingredients are known only to the faeries, and the consequent stories telling of the ingredients are based on rumour, and what faeries may have let slip. None are true, other than the one held in the glades where the faeries live."  
  
"Very good Liselle," her aunt smiled. "Which is why your next task is to visit the realm of the faeries and find out from them what you can. Merlin will meet you there with his news."  
  
"How do we get-"  
  
"To the realm? Well, faeries exist only through belief. Only by trusting and believing that they are there will they reveal themselves to you. The entrance to their world is accessible through a special portal. Come, we journey now to the Communications Department of the Ministry of Magic where as long as you believe it, the portal will be waiting for you."  
  
She rose to her feet, followed by the others. Striding quickly down many corridors, of marble, then thick red carpet, then what looked suspiciously like gold, they stopped ahead of a large oval door set into the thick gold wall. Around them, golden furnishings glinted golder still in the sunlight that was pouring through the gold framed window. Malfoy was gazing around like he couldn't believe his eyes. This room alone must be worth more than the entire Malfoy Manor.  
  
A row of red gems were set into the door. Esmerelda pressed a combination of them and the door swung open revealing a vast room. They stepped inside curiously as the golden door shut behind them. All around the circular room were what looked like oval shaped heat hazes hovering upright a few centimetres above the floor. Each were flanked by a doorman, who were smartly dressed in matching green and gold uniforms. On closer inspection, the oval hazes all had a small plaque above them with gold inscriptions. The ovals rimmed the perimeter of the room, then were set out randomly in the space ahead of them.  
  
Harry looked at the one nearest to them. Distorting the view of the wall behind it, its misty haze flickered and glittered strangely as Harry peered at it. The golden inscription above it read, 'Camelot.' The one next to it read, 'Stone Henge'. Suddenly, much to Harry's (as well as the other three's) surprise, a man dressed in long black robes and matching black tie strode through a haze labelled, 'Tintagel' as if from behind it somewhere, raised his hat politely to the doorman and then to Esmerelda and her group and disappeared through the golden door.  
  
"This is the Communications room. It allows Ministry members access to all the magical areas of Britain. We also have a Foreign Communications Room, but we won't be needing that today." Esmerelda lead the group over to a gap among a row of oval hazes. Its label was there, but the haze did not accompany it. The label read, 'The Realm of the Faeries'.  
  
"Now, remember what I said about believing. This is the easiest way to get to the realm, but even so, you must believe. That's all I can help you with, the rest is up to you." Esmerelda stood back and allowed the four to stand in front of the gap.  
  
Feeling a bit stupid they all closed their eyes, trying to believe. They all knew they didn't have much choice in the matter, as to progress, they must enter the realm, and if believing was the only way, it had to be done, no matter what certain members of the group's views on faeries were. Very slowly, a tiny flicker of a haze appeared. It grew stronger, and finally appeared a strong as the others.  
  
"Ok," Esmerelda instructed them. "Go ahead- walk straight through. Merlin will join you later."  
  
The four of them stepped through the haze. It tickled pleasantly and gave them a feeling of walking through a cloud, then they emerged on the other side in a clearing in a forest. Ahead of them a waterfall splashed merrily into a winding stream that trickled along side where they stood, and lush tall green trees stood around them. The place was so full of magic, it glittered in the air. Now. to find the faeries.  
  
When the four looked around, they saw no portal, which was slightly disconcerting, but that was nothing compared to what they saw when they turned. When they had first emerged, they were facing a waterfall, and couldn't see any of the actual land which stood behind them, although they were expecting it to be glades and beautiful meadows, typical of the faeries.  
  
They couldn't have been more wrong. The entire land had been laid ruin to. At one time, it had obviously been the calm and gentle paradise Esmerelda had described, but it had been burnt and savaged. As far as the eye could see, all that remained of the realm of the faeries was ash and the black and charred remains of what had once been magnificent, magical, flower yielding trees. The only remnant of this beauty stood around them in the few clumps of trees and neat grass they had emerged at. The stream they were standing by soon fell into a huge black and burning crevasse a few yards away.  
  
The magical waterfall and the small patch of grass on which they stood were the only natural geographical features that remained of the once elegant landscape, and if the waterfall was anything to go by, the scene must have been one to behold. It reflected in shimmering streams and flows the magically magnified and intensified colours of the spectrum, a pastel blue or a glistening green would occasionally surface in the glint of the sun, although the sun was swathed in thick black and grey smog that clung to the very air, drifting lazily in the atmosphere as if the scene below it was of no consequence or matter to it.  
  
Liselle suppressed a gasp and the other three just stared, none of them noticed that the waterfall was not falling naturally, oddly slowly, as it was a view point, a view into the real world, the realm of mortals, for the flow of time was not a stable thing in this realm, this other-world realm. Here, time ran much slower real time, and this waterfall was the only way the faeries had of seeing this. Who was to know what events were rapidly unfolding in the mortal world beyond as they searched for the faeries?  
  
In the distance, several raging fires still savaged the blackened and now shadowy forests. The ground in most areas was a sickly charred black, cracked like the after scene of a volcanic eruption. An eerie green mist drifted devilishly across certain areas of the ground. All four apart from Harry had witnessed this kind of devastation before. Whenever Voldemort had attacked a large area of land, this is what was always left behind, or similar. The wizarding community always feared the day that the next fully animated image of complete destruction would surface on the front page of the Daily Prophet. No words needed to be exchanged, after a few seconds, everyone had realised that this was the work of Voldemort, or his supporters. They were too late. All they could hope was they could find the faerie people somewhere amid all this, if they'd survived the carnage.  
  
Liselle's mage senses told her Merlin was no longer in a memory. They were only vague, but she had the feeling he was in danger and was looking for something. Other than that, nothing was clear. The four set out into this desolate and barren landscape in search of the elusive and tiny creatures that could tell them where Voldemort might be obtaining he ingredients to create Ambrosia. This was going to be impossible...  
  
Indeed this was going to be a truly awesome task, something that would be beyond the abilities of most full grown wizards. Where to start was a mammoth task in itself. Liselle turned a full 360 degrees trying to let her mage gifts guide her. She got a vague feeling that they should head south, why she wasn't all together sure. The niggling feeling that Merlin was in trouble kept gnawing at the back of her mind but she kept this uneasy feeling to herself.  
  
"Lets go this way," she instructed to the others. She struck off in front lost in thoughts and worrying about Merlin and what could be wrong with his leg of the mission.  
  
Harry caught up with her and fell into step with her, letting Ron and Malfoy behind. "Can you sense anything?" he questioned.  
  
She shook her head, "Not really, I'm getting hints at something this direction or at least a feeling that this is the way we should be going, apart from that, nothing."  
  
The landscape was still bleak but as they continued onwards, it became less and less charred than the area they landed. Gradually they began to get an idea of how impressive this realm once must have been. After about 3 hours of continual trekking across still smoking terrain, they came to the ruin of what once must have been a citadel. The once fortified pearl white walls had been blasted to smithereens apart from the odd pillar and half wall here and there. The group stepped over the ruins and into the once beautiful city. What was left was a smoking ruin, a skeleton of what once must have been a magnificent sight. What appeared to be the commerce area was just ahead of them. Once magnificent buildings were charred but still standing. Ron looked around him wondering if there was any chance of life remaining.  
  
The four spent what seemed like hours scouring the wrecked landscape for signs of life but found nothing.  
  
"This is pointless, we aren't going to find anything. We're just wasting our time here whilst we could be somewhere more useful taking precautions to protect ourselves. This is all that Esmerelda woman's fault. If she hadn't lead us into this place we'd be safe in Oxford with thousands of Ministry wizards, but now, we're stuck in some desolate realm with no way out, looking for something we're never going to find. We should have just ignored her and insisted on speaking to Fudge himself, all circumstances considered, father has always had some sway with the Minister, I'm sure I could have made him see sense, convinced him, he would have made arrangements to insure we were properly.."  
  
At this point, Liselle, who had been standing on a precipice looking for some sign of life, stormed up to Malfoy, interrupting his little speech. "Shut it Malfoy! We're all tired, and we're all frustrated, but you whinging about it isn't going to get us anywhere, and don't you ever insult a member of my family. We're here for a reason, and she would never have put us in unnecessary danger, do you understand?"  
  
Malfoy was stunned and said nothing for a few moments, suffering under Liselle's vicious stare, but he plucked up enough courage to answer, "Fine, whatever you say, but as soon as we get out of this place.."  
  
"If we get out of this place," Ron contributed, still peering through a burnt archway. Malfoy continued after a brief pause,  
  
"...I've had it with this prophecy nonsense, I'm leaving. I'll demand Ministry protection, I have invaluable information on father, on the dark arts, they need me."  
  
"So you'll be a traitor for your own good will you Malfoy?" Harry added.  
  
There was no reply. The searching continued for another half hour at least, made harder by the fact that no-one really knew what they were looking for. Everyone had heard of fairies, they were common magical creatures, by not a lot was known about faeries, the beings who were said to have created fairies, miniature versions of themselves, and released them into the mortal world, or at least, that was what legend implied. Then suddenly, like the first ray of sun in the dawn, Liselle's head turned to a small clump of burnt trees in the distance.  
  
"They're in that copse," she said with a note of urgency in her voice.  
  
"Come on, quickly," she shouted as she began to run towards them, the others followed, they'd found the faeries. Whether they were alive, or if they could tell them anything was unsure but nonetheless, with strengthened resolve, the four (including Malfoy, who had seemed to have temporarily forgotten his complete lack of enthusiasm), ran towards the small coppice. As they got closer, a small point of bright light was visible in the centre of the trees in a small clearing. They headed towards it...  
  
As the group came closer to the source of the light they slowed from a run to a walk. Liselle headed them, stretched her arms out before her as if feeling for something intangible. "They're here, I can feel them, but they're very weak. The rest of you stay here, I can sense them as they can sense me... give me a few moments." With that she stepped forward without listening to any of the objections the others were making.  
  
She stepped into the clearing and made her way to the centre of it. Although there was nothing visible, she knew that they were all around her. She stood perfectly still and she heard them talking all about her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" was the dominant question and she attempted to answer it as best she could, explaining about Voldemort's return and the prophecy of Merlin which she and the others had been chosen to fulfil. At the very mention of the prophecy there was a momentary pause before the questioning returned. This time though there was a softer tone to the voices, nothing so demanding and harsh. She continued her explanation of who she was and that she wasn't alone. The questioning stopped again as a mist gently appeared before her, spinning gently and becoming more and more solid. Soon there was a tall ethereal looking woman before her. Her skin was luminous and seemed to glow with life, her hair was deep chestnut and hung to her waist. She was dressed all in white, her features were perfect but there was an expression of immense sorrow etched on her face  
  
She reached towards Liselle and smiled faintly. "Invite the others my child, we have been waiting for you a long time, hurry, there is much work to do."  
  
Liselle sped back to Harry, Malfoy and Ron, and practically dragged them back to the little clearing where the Faeries was standing, without much of an explanation. The queen of the faeries beckoned to them and motioned to them to sit. They obeyed immediately. She began.  
  
"As I told Liselle here, we have known of your coming for a long time, we did not know when you would come but you are here now that is what matters. I regret very much that you cannot see my world as it once was, once we were a prosperous and happy place. rich and verdant. The destruction you see here is from the corruption of Black Magic, the Black Magic that entered into my world, corrupted that which was pure and innocent. It will be many aeons before we fully recover. Where once we were many, we are now few." At this she hung her head but continued. "You must help us to purge this evil or I feel that we are doomed, I am begging you, all I can give you in return is answers to your questions and laysol, we have a small amount of it remaining but its dying and would not stand up to the journey to your ministry unless this evil is purged."  
  
Harry looked at Ron who looked at Malfoy who mearly shrugged his shoulders before nodding his head and saying quietly, "What can we do?"  
  
At that point Lily Apparated right next to Harry. They all looked stunned, shocked and in fact... horrified that she was there and had been able to just... appear! She smiled at their puzzled faces, and said, "Never fear... Lily's here."  
  
"Lily!" exclaimed Liselle. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Lily smiled, as if enjoying the confusion. The odd looking situation before her- the burned and desolate land, the addition of Malfoy, Harry and Ron to the group, not to mention the Queen of the Faeries- seemed to have escaped her notice, as though she knew exactly what was going on. "Dumbledore came to see me this morning. He told me where you were, and what you were doing. He said you would need my help, so here I am."  
  
While the others remained in a shocked silence, Liselle spoke up, addressing the queen. "This is Lily Potter, one of our friends who has already helped up a great deal in the fight against the Dark Lord. Lily, this is the Queen of the Faeries." Now turning to Lily, she added, "We're currently discussing something really important with the queen of the faeries here. So maybe we should continue this conversation a little later?"  
  
Lily nodded and settled on the floor next to them.  
  
Liselle then faced the queen, as though strange interruptions of this nature were common place. "We do not come here in search of the laysol. But we do want to know who came here and destroyed your land."  
  
The faerie's expression hardened as she looked away, gazing at the ruins of her land. "You know it was the work of He Who Must Not Be Named, and although we all sensed a great evil entering our realm, we did not sense the greatest evil himself."  
  
"Did they get the list of ingredients for Ambrosia?" asked Ron.  
  
The queen turned her chestnut head towards him sorrowfully. "The list is hidden deep within our Book of Secrets. It has indeed been stolen from us. It cannot be opened by those who mean to use it for evil purposes- there are a number of charms that bind it, but we fear this will not hold back the Dark Lord for long. Most of our precious laysol, which grows naturally among in our enchanted rivers was taken also."  
  
Liselle looked worriedly into the faces of her companions, rather wishing that Merlin was there, as he always seemed to know what to do next.  
  
"Where are the other ingredients for Ambrosia found?" asked Harry, on the line of thought that if they knew where to look for the ingredients, they may also find Voldemort, or at least his Death Eaters.  
  
Lowering the level of her silky voice, the queen looked around then leaned in towards the group. "That is a question all faeries have denied answer to for centuries. However, I promised you answers, and I believe you will help us. well, what is left of us." The queen smiled ironically. "You must understand that this information is strictly confidential." She raised her deep brown eyes to look into their faces before the continued. "As a further precautionary measure, the rest of the ingredients are found to be growing naturally Bhorgal's Wood. You may know that the wood is a shadow of the real world, to some extent it acts as a mirror. Now, there are several enchanted creatures that live in the wood, all of which are highly dangerous, and have been employed to guard against anyone who may try to steal the potion ingredients. It is a desolate and depressing place, and most who go there do not come out alive, which is why Ambrosia has been such a rarity, and has become somewhat of a myth. It is a place where evil feeds on evil, and my belief is that this is where the Dark Lord and his followers will take refuge," she finished, confirming Harry's thoughts. Lily and Malfoy sat and listened carefully, as they had not been present on the previous visit to the wood.  
  
"So. you're saying we have to go back to Bhorgal's Wood?" Ron gulped.  
  
"Yes. Don't you see? We have to," Liselle said. The faces of her friends mirrored her own worried expression.  
  
"Do not fear," the queen smiled kindly. "You enter in peace, which provides a certain protection around you for a start. Then I suggest you accompany me to my palace where my family and I can further your protection." With this, she rose to her feet, her white dress flowing around her although there was no breeze to make it do so. Similarly, as she turned around and gestured to them to follow, her long hair followed her in a manner of being held in water, mistily and lazily.  
  
The others followed her past the charred and sorry looking buildings lining the street. As if in a maze, they walked down several streets turning every now and again until Liselle was sure they'd never remember the way back out. Suddenly, up ahead loomed the most magnificent building imaginable. No damage altered its fine curvy structure, as it swirled skyward. Almost glowing white, it shone out stunningly against the now darkening blue sky.  
  
"Welcome, everyone, to my home." The queen raised her long silver wand and a glittering mist formed around them like a bubble until they could no longer see their surroundings. When the mist dispersed, the six were standing in a room done out in deep red, as if they had been passively Apparated. The high ceiling arched grandly above them. Ahead stood three male faeries and each door was flanked by a guard. The queen left their sides and joined the other faeries, who were frowning disapprovingly and glaring at Liselle, Lily, Harry, Ron and Malfoy. The queen seemed to be explaining who they were, as the expression on the male faeries faces softened, but still remained uneasy as the queen approached them again.  
  
"We have decided to-" Her voice faltered as a loud whirring ahead of her, and behind the group threatened to drown her out. Liselle and the others spun around to see another spinning mist of sparkles appearing, apparently at great speed. It swirled manically, then a human form fell out of it and lay crumpled on the floor. Merlin.  
  
Although a strange situation, Liselle felt a rush of relief to see him. Her mage powers had been telling her Merlin was in terrible danger, but he was here now at least. Now he could tell them all what had happened. Maybe help explain Lily's sudden appearance. They all rushed to his side as he lifted himself up into a sitting position.  
  
Liselle and Ron were the first to reach him and helped him into a sitting position. He was very weak, as though he had been drained by some huge task. He was pale but he managed to give a small grin. Liselle turned to the Queen and introduced him as the original fifth member of the group before the addition of Lily. The queen approached Merlin and crouched down next to him and placed her hands on his head. She shut her eyes and muttered an incantation quietly, before their eyes Merlin seemed to rejuvenate. He was still weak but he could sit up unassisted now.  
  
Liselle sat by his side as he began his story.  
  
"You four know up to the point of me leaving you at the ministry. I was taken to another part of the same building, to undertake a task that was so awful I'm sure that I wont sleep for quite some time to come. You cannot imagine how gross and distorted the things that I saw were..." He shook his head in disgust before continuing. "The Death Eater that was caught yesterday was Goyle's father. He wasn't as high in Voldemort's hierarchy as your father is, Malfoy, but still the things he knew paint a very grim picture that make our mission even more urgent."  
  
At this Malfoy blanched as if thinking of his ex-cronies father caught and what he must have known, things that would have been leaked by his own father to him. "What things did you see?" he asked hoarsely.  
  
"What I saw was... death, destruction... and worse, a lot worse," Merlin answered. "The thoughts that I was privy to were things that no witch or wizard should ever have to see. Voldemort, since he returned, has become far more ambitious that he was ever before and plans for destruction spread far and wide, no longer centred on England but further afield, to Ireland" -this was aimed at Liselle who paled- "Scandinavia, France, Spain and Russia. What he has planned is truly alarming."  
  
Merlin stood up and began to pace the room, everyone had their eyes focused on him and you could have heard a pin drop.  
  
"Voldemort has to be stopped, he has larger aims in sight, he wants to the Ambrosia to create an unbeatable army that cannot be stopped or killed. He's planning on bringing back some of the worst dark wizards our world has ever seen. I know that there are charms protecting the recipe for Ambrosia but he has already cracked at least one of them and is close to unravelling the others. We need answers and a lot of help from you all."  
  
Liselle stood and face to queen, her eyes steely. "Tell us what you know, now, and leave nothing out. If Voldemort does manage to get the Ambrosia created it's not just my world that's going to be in deep trouble, but yours too."  
  
Merlin stumbled up and walked towards Liselle and the Queen. "I have to tell you, that it may be too late."  
  
The others approached and the queen listened on in both fascination and fear. Merlin began to explain what had happened.  
  
"I had to travel to the coast, the mainland just off Azkaban where Goyle was being held. Ministry professionals were already analysing the thoughts by use of a pensieve, there was some sort of hex protecting Goyle's memory from being entered, which would have given a deeper understanding of what was going on, so they were limited to basic observations. Dumbledore had read something in the Merlin texts which seemed to refer directly to me, which was odd as Merlin was rarely so precise. Anyway, it seemed to suggest that there was something I should do so I went. I was able to enter the memory, and see first hand what had happened. I relayed what I'd seen back to the officials, but I found out something no-one was expecting." Merlin took in the intrigued faces and continued, "Voldemort already has Ambrosia."  
  
Liselle restrained a gasp and clutched her chest, Ron whimpered and looked close to collapse, Liselle had to support Lily from falling and Harry looked disturbed beyond words.  
  
Merlin continued. "However, Goyle's memory told me the vague location of the elixir. It was being held somewhere in the arctic, in an unplottable region. Many hundreds of years past, Merlin created the region as the arctic served as an excellent outpost for stellar observations. He called it 'His Window Atop the World'. It has since lost some of its more powerful protective qualities against the dark arts, but it is nevertheless still one of the most magical areas in the world- the most ancient sorcery is often the most powerful. Voldemort was using a storage facility in the area to protect the Ambrosia, but he himself cannot enter it, it would be too much of a risk to challenge the defences of such a great ancient magician, and so he relies on other methods to ensure its safety. I was able, with the help of others and several diversions, to steal it. Only a descendant of Merlin could safely enter the area where it was being stored, and no others were available. I have it here."  
  
Merlin ruffled in his furs (it was only now that the others realised he was wearing huge robes of heavy furs, although slightly ragged and matted and damp from the ordeal). He showed them a tiny crystal phial containing a swirling, entrancingly beautiful fluid. It was almost as if it was alive, elegantly swimming around in its container, gently merging into subtly different colours. It was mainly an endlessly deep, thick red, interlaced with purples, yellows and other colours that would occasionally swim around each other, flowing from shade to shade. A soft, misty, magical glow radiated from the phial accompanied by a sweet and mellow yet indescribable fragrance emanated from it, and it almost seemed to be singing, a subtle, barely audible, graceful yet endlessly complex musical symphony. The group gazed on, it was as if every pleasant experience, happy feeling, joy, everything that you could ever want existed somewhere within the fathomless, vicious, gleaming and swirling depths, if only you could reach into it. Even the sensation attained by simply staring into this mini ocean of pure beauty was priceless ,a treasurable moment, almost like window shopping for complete contentment, yet a deep and heart-felt despair that what was held within the phial was not available to them, not unless they drank its contents, which was of course not to be. The group's stare into this otherworldly oddity of both mystery and great wonder and beauty was broken only slightly by a soft voice.  
  
"The essence of life, and of beauty, and of soul. Bliss captured within its liquid state," the Queen faerie spoke mistily in her explanation. "Never before have I beheld such a sight."  
  
Ron, still gazing at the phial took the moment to enquire, "But you can make this stuff can't you? Surely you've seen it before."  
  
"You are correct, the recipe to concoct the elixir is stored within our Book of Secrets, but we have no need for it here. To have the ability to do something, is not a perquisite to actually do that thing, that is one of the many fundamental differences that separates our realm from yours Mr Weasley."  
  
Merlin replied, "That maybe true, but all of us have the ability to be evil, yet the majority choose not to, perhaps our realms are more alike than you think."  
  
The Queen responded calmly and silkily, "That is a scholarly thought Mr Carter, one which many a great thinker has contemplated, yet no conclusion as to why has ever been reached. It would seem, therefore, that some qualities are universal to us all, maybe it is that we here choose to embrace them entirely, while others prefer the liberty of choice."  
  
The Queen averted her gaze at the phial almost reluctantly, and raised her hand to quell the conversation and gather the group's attention. They noticed a male faerie had just whispered something to the Queen and was now walking away promptly. The Queen spoke in a powerful and commanding voice to the hall, but one which still held perfectly the soft and entrancing elegance the group had heard when she had spoken to them quietly.  
  
"I have excellent news, our book of secrets has been returned to us. It would appear that Book keepers retreated with it in order to assure its protection during the attack and have now retrieved it once more." A vivid smile swept across the hall among the guards, scholars, and knights. The Queen then continued, but not in her previous tone of almost jubilation at discovering the Book was safe, but with a mournful expression. "However, Guardian Quariella gave her life to protect the Book, her loss is of great consequence and sorrow to us all, but fortunately, her apprentice Joviad Laurell will be able to fill her position due to the great tutoring in the ancient arts and guardianship she was able to supply him throughout her illustrious life. A great ceremony shall be held in her honour and memory once the great halls have been rebuilt which we will be able to accomplish quickly thanks to her sacrifice, due to the ancient sorcery that built the halls being preserved in the book that she saved."  
  
There was a pause of the deepest silence, and the Queen's expression was mimicked throughout the chamber, but the prospect of celebrating the guardian's life seemed to console them sufficiently to continue normally.  
  
The Queen then turned to the group and explained softly, "The Ancient Library guardians are some of the most respected scholars in our realm, especially the keepers of the Book of Secrets. The loss of one of them will be of great upset to us all and her loss shall always leave an empty place in our hearts, yet what she accomplished in life shall be remembered and expanded in her death. Just as we shall rebuild the walls of our cities and lands laid waste to evil powers, so shall we rebuild our virtues and strength of spirit. Now, if you will please follow me."  
  
They obeyed, and followed the Queen through a huge, towering set of intricately carved doors into an elegantly decorated corridor. Four guards, two elderly scholars and what must have been aides to the queen, or advisors, smartly dressed, one female and one male followed as well. They walked in silence for a few minutes feasting their eyes on beautiful corridors buzzing with busy faeries, organising repairs and relief operations, who would bow to the Queen as she passed, gently and kindly acknowledging them, then further corridors with delicately large windows that showed the desolate scene outside, although it already appeared to be rebuilding and regenerating. They then arrived at a set of highly polished and almost glowing wooden doors that seemed almost soft as a feather if they had touched them. The Queen gently tapped a circular golden knocker and the door opened to reveal inside a huge, tall, carpeted room. The were lead past a set of robed faeries who were standing almost in a guarding position near the door, and four tall and elderly robed library keepers, who bowed on the Queen's entrance. Towering bookcases of many fine materials stood grandly from floor to endlessly high ceilling. At one end stood five grand, statues of robed male and female faeries, all crafted from the finest marble and a hundred time real size stood in a circle facing outwards. Behind them was an arched, immensely intricate stained glass window of similarly epic proportions. There were steps up to the centre of the circle that the grand statues formed, in the middle of which was a fantastic podium, encrusted with a huge variety of glistening jewels and woods, gems and polished stones that reflected and twinkled in the warm multicoloured glow of the stained glass window, basking in its gentle yet brightly illuminating rays of refined sunlight. It was a surreal and fantastic scene. They walked the quite significant distance to the podium and up the steps, totally ignoring the thousands upon thousands of intriguing leather bound books that towered inside bookcases many hundreds of times taller than the tallest man, totally transfixed on the podium and what was on it. Six faeries stood behind the podium, five elderly and wise, one younger yet just as calm whom they presumed to be the killed Guardian's apprentice. Unlike the others, they did not bow, but respectively nodded their heads before the Queen, which seemed to be the appropriate gesture for them to make. On top of the podium rested a book bound in patterned gold and blue leather, latticed with the finest gold, encrusted with diamonds which shimmered in the light, beneath which lay a layer of almost glowing, vibrant blue gem stone of some kind. Harry and Liselle looked up to see a grand, intricately and beautifully engraved stone ceilling, sculpted with what must have been the most perfect craftsmanship they had ever seen, that domed slightly above the statues whose endlessly detailed facial features, down to the eyelash and patterns of the iris were just visible from their great height above them. At the centre of the dome was a circular skylight similar in patterning to arched window before them, light projected from which shone down on the book. Around them on the floor were gemstones, polished and flush to the floor amid the seemingly ceaseless engraved patterns that told a thousand stories, myths, legends, and history, but in pictures, and swirling text illegible to the group. Marble surrounded the podium with similar engravings, as did the entire library floor where there was no thick carpet, or smooth polished stone. One of the keepers moved to the queen and handed her a sheet of purest white and interlaced with delicate patterns of gold that was glowing with ruby red writing.  
  
The Queen interrupted the group's amazement at this truly wondrous material wealth and immensity to explain, "We present to you a page from the Book of Secrets. This is the leaf that gives instructions on how to brew Ambrosia. It is clear that Voldemort wishes to obtain the recipe, as he must have been performing experiments on the small amount in that phial to see if he could extract the base ingredients and thus find the recipe. Fortunately, there is much more than brewing Ambrosia than the three ingredients we use in our recipe. They act only as a base, substance for that that has no substance, the essence of life itself cannot be brewed using only these things, and hopefully, that will be a hurdle the Dark Lord cannot overcome. I do not know what you must do, but may the fates guide you. I wish you the best of luck."  
  
The Queen handed Liselle the page which one of the keepers had placed within two sheets of some fine, papery material. "Now, time is short. You are welcome to stay here, but I feel there are things that must occupy you elsewhere. So, if you must, will you follow me to the portal back to your Ministry?"  
  
The group all vaguely nodded in unison, and the Queen led them out the Great Library, back to the portal, and back to the ministry, where more unexpected events may be waiting...  
  
As they now knew what it was like to travel through the portal, this trip was by far easier than the previous one had been. At the ministry they were met once more by Esmerelda and Dumbledore. Both were smiling at the group and Dumbledore had the familiar twinkle in his eye.  
  
"How did you get on?" he asked them. Esmerelda stood at his shoulder and nodded in agreement with his question.  
  
Liselle stepped forward first. "Merlin, as you can see, managed to meet up with us but has unfortunate news. I'm not sure whether you have heard or not, but it may be too late to prevent Voldemort from brewing Ambrosia, I have the recipe here from the Faeries." She held it out towards Esmerelda and Dumbledore, who both moved slightly away from it.  
  
"Ah Ms Lafelle, we cannot take that page from you and neither can any of your companions. Indeed, you are now bound to carry that leaf until your task is complete, you have been imbued with the greatest honour a mortal can be granted. You have been chosen to carry part of the sacred book. Guard it well and do not leave it away from you for a moment. Take care though, with this honour comes great responsibilities and risk... but I'm sure that you are more than capable!"  
  
At this Liselle looked troubled at the newest burden that had been placed on her shoulders but she caught her aunts eye and nodded in determination and placed the delicate leaf of the book back into her robes.  
  
A messenger arrived for Esmerelda so for the first time since the beginning of the quest, the original five with the addition of Lily, were left alone with Dumbledore. He answered the multitude of questions that they had, but he took Malfoy aside and spoke to him quietly away from the others.  
  
"Mr Malfoy," he said formally. "We have taken a review of your situation at school. I have brought the sorting hat with me to confirm my suspicions." With that he placed the ragged sorting hat on Malfoy's very puzzled head. The sorting hat began to contract on his head and Malfoy began to squirm. The others watched in surprise as the hat began to talk to Malfoy.  
  
"Mr Malfoy, we meet again. This is a most unusual situation. I had you pegged for Slytherin, but now it appears a change is in-order." At this Malfoy started as if this had never occurred to him. "Sit still!" the hat snapped at him. "This is a unique situation, for all involved....ah ha! That's it, Mr Malfoy when the next school term begins you will be joining Gryffindor."  
  
At this Dumbledore smiled and Malfoy paled considerably. At his obvious discomfort, Dumbledore pointed out that it was no longer prudent for him to remain in the Slytherin house as his father had so much sway still with the Death Eaters. At this Malfoy nodded and went to rejoin his new house mates. Liselle and Lily weren't too put out by this but the boys weren't impressed at all. Harry saw his position as seeker being undermined, Ron was disgusted that his enemy (although technically they were on the same side) would be in his house and possibly his dorm. Merlin however stood still and gazed at Malfoy saying nothing at all.  
  
A this stage Esmerelda returned with their further instructions.  
  
Malfoy looked both shocked and disgusted. He turned to face Dumbledore with a slight disbelief in his face.  
  
"Do not worry Mr. Malfoy, I assure you your house placing is quite safe, it is unheard of for a student to be re-sorted and you will be happy to hear that you are no exemption."  
  
Dumbledore explained. Malfoy looked even more confused, and so did the others, although hadn't seen what Malfoy had.  
  
"It would seem that you have discovered one of our most important and newly discovered tools."  
  
Dumbledore gestured over to the corner where Malfoy had been staring unblinkingly for the past five minutes. He still seemed to confused to say anything. Positioned in the corner, was what looked like a medium sized circular wall mirror, about 2 ft in diameter. It was surrounded by a thick gold rim and casing that was engraved with complex patterns and probably writing of some sort. In the innermost part of the rim were a set of 4 hollow circular dials that bore yet more engravings of some kind of runes and symbols, hundreds of them around each dial, all about the size of a postage stamp. They were all completely accurate and delicate, some symbols containing tiny jewels for eyes or engravings so fine they were barely visible. Around each dial was another, thin dial that, at some point on its circumference, was positioned a small gold triangle, its top angle facing inwards, like a pointer. The group gathered these triangles were used as selectors of some kind, used to point at the runes on the large dials. Around the side of the rim were 15 small buttons, like those you would turn to move the hands on a wrist watch. The mirror-like centre was slightly foggy around the edges and displayed an image of Malfoy with the sorting hat on his head, looking surprised.  
  
Dumbledore turned to the crowd, summoned their attention and, indicating the device, began to explain.  
  
"This is what we call a Predictor-Glass." The group listened intently. "Have any of you ever wondered what and where you would be now if events had unfolded differently in your past? For example, if you Mr. Carter, had not returned from your travels with your parents to come to Hogwarts, where would you be now? Still globe trotting or elsewhere? And you Mr. Potter. Have you ever considered how very different your life would be if your parents still lived?" Dumbledore absorbed the contemplative faces of the crowd and continued, "The Predictor-Glass allows us to see these things. When you looked at the glass Mr. Malfoy, it was wandering. The glass often randomly plays out often quite unrealistic scenarios when it is not being operated so as it does not fall into misuse." Malfoy looked incredible relieved, Dumbledore continued. "However, The Predictor-Glass is in possession of powers far greater than simple reminiscence and ponderence. It can be used to predict what events would unfold beforehand if we take certain actions. For example, we can ask the Predictor-Glass what would happen should we send a spy to collect information on Voldemort's activities. The more accurately we ask the question, the more accurate a response we will receive. Any conceivable question can be put to the Predictor-Glass, although great skill, knowledge and patience is required to operate it, not to mention a whole set of instruction books for proper use, the location of which I believe you aware of Mr. Carter."  
  
Merlin gave a slight nod.  
  
Dumbledore then continued, "We hope to be able to use the Predictor-Glass to save many lives, and hopefully, be successful in quelling this uprising before it becomes out of hand, another repeat of the events of fourteen years past would beset our world with unimaginable fear. We have reason to believe, however, that Voldemort is aware that we are in possession of the Glass, but I am assured that extra security measures have been employed to ensure its safety. Now, I am sure you are all exhausted after your ordeals, as such, we have some rooms reserved for you here at the Ministry. Now, due to recent events, The Global Magisterial Senate of Sorcery has been recalled and will enter full session tomorrow. There is an observation room above the senatorial chamber. The topic will probably be heavily focussed around some of the events you have been involved in. Now, I believe Ms. Morganne has some information for you. Dumbledore politely turned towards Esmerelda and she began to speak.  
  
"As a precaution, we have had the ingredients for Ambrosia that we know of removed from Bhorgal's Wood and placed in the hands of the faeries, who have undertaken huge measures to protect their realm from further incursion. It is likely humans will not enter the realm again for many hundreds of years. However, we used a rare and precious device in order to be guided into the wood in order to retrieve these ingredients. It is a sort of compass, but it was lost along with one of our officials in the wood, the others were able to return, but he was left behind, and now we have no way to retrieve him before the effects of the wood take hold. Liselle, may I speak to you for a moment ?"  
  
"Ok," Liselle replied unassuredly. Esmerelda directed Liselle across the small lobby they had been standing in and out a door.  
  
"Right, Mr. Thomas here will take you to your rooms," Dumbledore said kindly, indicating a tallish man with brown hair and wearing a black cloak with deep purple trimmings, and a little gold badge with "Henry Thomas" written on it emerald green writing who had just appeared through a door. He smiled and moved his hand invitingly towards the door he had just come from, and moved to open it.  
  
"This way please."  
  
They followed obediently, although without Liselle, and set off to the rooms. They were guided through several sets of brightly lit corridors, all smartly decorated with rich carpets and often arched with strong wooden beams. After around five minutes of travelling through corridors bustling with busy ministry people, some small, some as wide as Hogwarts' Great hall. They knew, from towering windows, and judging by the stairs they had climbed and a couple of interesting lifts, that they were quite high up. They were bought to an open lobby with a sign outside labelled "Guest Suites", and were led to comfortable rooms. Each enjoyed a pleasant night and were politely woken in the morning after a good night's sleep by a quiet knock on the door. They were told that all the members of the senate had arrived and they should get in a lift, and ask it to go to the upper observation room waiting area. This, although still without Liselle, they managed after some misdirection by a visiting goblin, and a confusing conversation with an African wizard whom Merlin had managed to decipher, had come to watch the senate to. They followed him for a while but quickly discovered he was lost to, and unable to help him, went their separate ways. They eventually made it to a lift after some miss-matched directions from the hundreds of Ministry Wizards who were darting around, packing every corridor (most refused to help and said "I'm too busy, sorry", or, "Ask someone else, Mrs Glocker wants this report on that troll sighting in Watford by 9:30 and that's three minutes off, she's a real one for punctuality that Mrs Glocker and I'll never make it to the troll control office in three minutes, it's at the top of the C.O.M.C Department tower and that's miles off. What am I talking about ! Wasting my time explaining all this to you, I've got to hurry up!") When they did finally make it to a lift, it succeeded in annoying Merlin by insisting he say please at the top of his voice several times after he forgot to the first, not expecting it to talk back. The lift eventually bought them to a large waiting room that was buzzing with wizards from all over the world: African, French, Irish, Bulgarian, Russian, Australian, New Zealanders, Italian, Scottish, Welsh, Norwegian, Spanish, American, Canadian, Arabian, Alaskan, even some Inuits, and some weren't even human, even the occasional ghost could be seen floating around making conversation. The group, unsure of what to do amid all the bustle, took one of the few seats left available and sat down. Merlin observed Liselle's absence and some speculation as to where she might be ensued, although without any plausible results.  
  
"Erm, what exactly is this senate thing?" Ron asked as ideas as to where Liselle might be ran out.  
  
"I'm not sure, but my parents have seen it and they say it's an impressive sight, seeing hundreds of wizards and witches from all over the world gathered together. Normally there's only a few hundred people in the senate, discussing issues from all over the world and deciding what to do about them, but when something happens that threatens everyone, you can get thousands of people in the chamber, like today. There are five people who control all the discussion, but one of them, the Prime Senator, is the main one. Then there's Fudge, who sits on the Minister's chair surrounded by his advisors, but because this is the Global Senate, Fudge doesn't have any more to do with it than any of the other politicians, he's just the hosting head of government, Fudge is the Minister for Magic, so he heads the Ministry, that's bigger than the senate, but it's divided into different houses, and the Parliament of course, and that's in London, and...."  
  
Merlin trailed off, noticing that no on was listening, because a crowd of people were gathering around Harry trying to get a glimpse of him, being held off by a group of Ministry wizards, the occasional "Oh my ! Look, it's Harry Potter", "Mr Potter, I'm Terry Bottle from the Daily Prophet, could I have a few words ?", "Ah ! Regarde ! C'est Harry Potter !", "Mirada alla ! Mire, el es Harry Potter.", "Mr Potter, it's such an honour to meet you.", "Look, see, you really can see the scar "Sehen Sie Hans, Blick, es ist, es ist Harry Potter, der, wer ihn, der nicht genannt werden darf, Blick, Sie kann die Narbe sogar sehen stoppte!" and so on, occasionally pierced the excited hum of languages in the room. This went on for about 5 minutes, Harry looking very embarrassed whilst trying to be pleasant and Merlin muttering under his breath. Finally, someone opened the doors to the observation room and they all flooded in. They were in a very large circular room with a huge hole in the middle, surrounded by a gold banister. The hole showed the huge Senatorial Chamber below. The chamber was completely circular with the diameter of the length of a Quidditch pitch. It was a long way down, so much so you could only see the faces of all the politicians and ministers and other various wizards if you squinted. The chamber was very bright, due to the fact that that entire room was surrounded by a huge stained glass window, interrupted occasionally by huge stone columns bigger than the plane they had seen. There were seven columns in total, with other smaller ones dotted around the perimeter of the room. On each of the large pillars was an engraving of some sort of dragon. There were lots of different coloured drapes hanging from the ceilling bearing flags from all over the world, the British flag taking centre place at one side of the room flanked by English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish drapes. Below these sat a man clad in Lime green and deep purples, and wearing a bowler hat, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic. He sat on a largish green seat, with four small ones on either side. The entire room was full of tiered seats and circular benches upon which sat countless hundreds of official-looking people. In the middle was a marble-floored clearing, in the centre of which stood a small, solitary mahogany table with something on it that was covered in red cloth. On one side was what looked like five thrones surrounded by integrated desks piled high with books and papers with busy people looking through them. At the very edge of the room was a sort of walkway that people were using to get to their seats. There were very tall and well built guards cloaked in deep black velvet, standing around the walkway, just them standing there was enough to put anyone off causing any trouble. Some of them held long wooden staffs, some had large holstered, silver swords, some looked un-armed. In addition to the guards, swarms of Ministry guides were directing people to their proper places. When everyone had settled, an old yet powerful-looking wizard on one of the thrones stood up, and instantly the mumble of talk ceased. The man had a cultured and wizened voice that matched his face and stature.  
  
"Witches, wizards, esteemed colleagues from across the world, we gather here to address a threat that has the potential to affect us all. The majority of you will remember the events of 14 years past, when he who must not be named rose to power and began to gather followers in an effort to take over England. He failed, thanks to the efforts of the our hosts, The British Ministry of Magic, and a boy, but a year old at the time, Harry Potter, but not at great loss." Some of the people in the observation roomed turned round to look at Harry. "He who must not be named fled, but precious few months ago, he was found to have risen once more, and we are aware that nineteen of his old supporters have returned to him already. He has also summoned the aid of the Dementors, who are now serving him. As such, the guards at Azkaban have been replaced. All out war has been averted however, as the Orb of Shadows has been safely returned to a secure location. I will now hand this address over to Minister Fudge who will be able to explain recent events in more depth."  
  
Fudge stood up and removed his bowler. "Thank you Prime Senator. I would like to began by thanking you all for coming to..." Fudge continued in a long winded but disturbing report on all recent events. He explained how Hogsmeade had been practically burnt to the ground, and its inhabitants evacuated. How Hogwarts had been put on a skeleton staff and the term cut short, and he explained how a large group of the teachers had disappeared without trace, only to be found in Hogwarts' forbidden forest after being sent there by Voldemort supporters whilst Hogsmeade was attacked. The teachers had been ambushed by a small group of death eaters, one of whom, Victor Goyle, they had been able to capture. He said nothing about The Order of The Phoenix, either because he didn't support it, wasn't aware of its existence, or didn't know it had come together once more. He explained how Voldemort had made seven attacks, but none as severe as his strike against Hogsmeade. He described how two of Voldemort's spies had been uncovered in Russia and France, one of whom escaped capture, and then went on to read a list of some of the magical creatures that Voldemort had summoned. The group were pleased to see the list was quite small at the moment but included a community of Hungarian giants and as they had discovered, Dementors. He explained how Voldemort had planned to use Ambrosia to improve his heavily weakened strength, but told of how the Ministry had recovered and secured the ingredients whose location it was aware of, and how the phial he was conducting experiments on had been stolen from him, and was now in their possession (although he didn't mention Merlin, much to his annoyance.) He also told the chilling tale of how the Dementors had turned on the prisoners of Azkaban to feast, and then released Voldemort's supporters and returned them to him.  
  
Then came the most chilling horror of all, "Now, it is my mournful duty to hand my report over to Minister Morbin of the department of statistical operations for the full casualty list."  
  
Fudge sat down with his head down, and there was a restrained and respectful spatter of applause for his detailed speech. Minister Morbin, a tall man with neat black hair and a stern face stood up next to Fudge.  
  
"Thank you sir, Minister. This is the first reading of the full list of confirmed deaths since He who must not be named came to power again in chronological order. As such, this list will be broadcast on both the Wizarding Wireless Network and will be made available from viewing in fireplaces telesets." As he said this, a little gold device about the size of a tennis ball and with a little glowing grey gem at the front, floated up to the man, and some little golden arms unfurled from its side. One arm held a little light that began to shine brightly, and the other contained a variety of little devices, some of which pointed at the Minister. Around the room hanging near the windows, five large, gold oval rings flared into life. What looked like rippling, floating fire appeared in their centres. There was a firey fuzz, a brief glowing flash, and Minister Morbin's face, enlarged several hundred times appeared in their centres. There was a respectful pause, and he continued.  
  
" Jorkins, Bertha. Bryce, Frank; muggle. Crouch, Bartemius. Diggory, Cedric. Hulm, Frederic. Keddleby, Yvonne. Dunn, Horris. Bonnington, Gareth; muggle. Crupp, Edward. Mulson, Mary..."  
  
And so the list continued. They looked on with sorrow and disgust ridden faces. Luckily, the list wasn't too long, but then, at the end, it came. "Termienne, Ursula. Wendlefelt, Erwin. Lafelle, Sarah."  
  
Liselle's absence suddenly became obvious, and they looked on horror struck. Sarah Lafelle was the last name. But Minister Morbin hadn't finished, he looked just as sorrowful as the rest of the senate and the observers. Some sobs were coming from observation room, and many of the pointed hats of the politicians and senators below were bowed sorrowfully.  
  
He continued with deeply mournful note of finality, "I must also add that Richard Lafelle is lost and presumed dead in Bhorgal's Wood."  
  
The horror they were feeling instantly doubled. Morbin opened his mouth again to finish his speech, but he was interrupted by a huge boom, screams, and a massive clashing sound of tons of glass smashing and being hurled to the ground. He looked behind him as did the others. Everyone in the senate was standing and the screams were multiplying, and Merlin noticed that the table at the centre of the room had disappeared. There was a flash in the hole below them, and the gap was instantly filled with a goldish glow. They heard the door bang behind them and shouts of orders as about 20 Ministry officials rushed through it, some shouting commands to each other and directing them. An intense air of shock and fear spread through the room. The group looked at each other startled, and then looked down at the senatorial chamber below them. Hordes of wizards were running out of the seats and chairs, swarming to get out, there were hundreds of screams coming from the side of the chamber. The sound of smashing glass was still intense, and billows of green smoke and masonry dust were coming from one side of chamber. They saw the Velvet-clad guards running towards the scene, it was chaos. The smoke was beginning to clear enough for them to see what was going on. A huge open gash had appeared in a section of the window between two pillars, and there were piles of glass on the floor beneath it, some people were laying on the floor around it unconscious. Green smoke was falling around the area. Hundreds of wizards were standing and running, and Ministry officials were flooding in like ants from the entrances. The Prime Senator was being smuggled out amid about 50 Ministry people along with Fudge and some other very important looking people. More velvet wearing guards were appearing from every entrance, and black-cloaked senior Ministry heads were shouting orders above the screams and cries, and the continuing splintering sound of shattering glass falling. There was another boom, a flash of intense green light, and there was a small explosion near one of the benches. Splinters of wood and green leather were sent flying into the air amid intense acid-green flames, people diving out of the way and screaming at the top of their voices, another green flash, and an explosion, this time directed at a solid wall that chipped and smashed in a flurry of stone and dust, pieces of hard rock sent flying into the crowds from the explosion. The guards were taking out some sort of weapons. Most of them had what looked like giant wands, but engraved with detailed glowing swirls, the batons flashed a bright blue as the guards took them out. Some of them had long staffs, and others, swords. As soon as the guards had readied themselves, black cloaked figures flew through the huge gap like a river of evil flowing into the mouth of the sea. They were atop broomsticks, at least 30 of them, obviously Voldemort had amassed more than his original 19 death eaters, his ranks were growing. They swooped around the cavernous chamber like ravens, firing flashes of bright green light down at the petrified crowd, some of whom were doing their best to retaliate, wands pointed upwards, firing all the hexes they knew. Hundreds of Ministry officials were banded together in groups, gallantly firing up at the death eaters, some darting around trying to get the politicians out of the chamber. One man was hit by a green flash and was thrown across a set of benches into a wall, and another, and another. Terror filled the air. A death eater began to fire spells at the observation room where they were standing, and everyone ducked, many flinging themselves to the ground, but the spell hit the golden glow over the hole and was flung back at him. He was knocked off his broom and fell to the ground below. The group crawled to the edge to watch to see what was going on, how were they going to get out? The guards with the batons were pointing them at the death eaters and firing them like wands, rarely failing to hit one, but there weren't as many guards as Ministry officials, and although the Ministry people were doing their best, they weren't half as accurate as the Black- cloaked guards. Just as about twelve Dementors had been knocked off, another set flew into the room, along with hordes of Dementors. This time, the death eaters landed and moved to attack on ground whilst the Dementors joined death eaters in the air. The Dementors seemed to be sending out some sort of black lightning from their scabbed hands that seemed nearly as effective as the death eater's wands. The guards took on the landed death eaters who were attacking the fleeing politicians whilst the Ministry people banded together in groups, black-cloaked department heads booming orders and directions. The guards' batons also served as swords, and they were more than a match for the death eaters. The tall, strong guards ploughed through the crowd, occasionally using their wands to fire into the air, striking out with swords and glowing batons that also seemed to have a deflective quality against the hexes the death eaters were using. One of the guards pointed his staff at one of the pillars. The engraving of the dragon glowed an intense, misty yellow gold, and a sparkling, gold, semi- translucent dragon-like creatures sprang from the stone and went for a group of death eaters who it flung aside with ease, bright green streams of hexes flowing through it, firing a misty golden fire at the Dementors who dissolved in a flurry of black and grey in the magical flames. Soon, Ministry guards were flying through the hole in the window on broomsticks and a horrific aerial battle took place. It was carnage, benches and chairs were flung everywhere, the walls charred and smashed, piles of glass everywhere from the obliterated window, people laying unconscious, or worse over the floor. Splinters of wood and marble lay scattered across the scene, pile of books and wood burning in odd green flames. Eventually, the sheer number of people from the Ministry overwhelmed the attacking force. Most of the Dementors fled on orders from the remaining death eaters who swooped out of the opening with Ministry guards tailing them.  
  
Eventually, a thick marble screen closed over the scene below, in which the remaining death eaters were doing their best to fight off the guards encroaching upon them with staffs, and swords, wands outraised, and several flustered looking Ministry officials came bursting into the room to guide them out, explaining as nervous enquiries flooded into them, that they had been attacked, and You Know Who must have captured someone who knew how to get past the defensive procedures employed at the ministry, but it was over now, and officials were busy securing the scene. They left the observation room and through the waiting room shocked, awkwardly trying to make conversation but failing miserably. As they left the waiting room, they saw Liselle standing next to Esmerelda waiting for them. No one knew what to say, and so no one said anything, but they all knew that Voldemort had launched the attack to get the Predictor-Glass, it was too valuable a resource to let his enemy possess. It must have been on the table at the centre of the room, ready to be revealed to the Global Senate, a new hope, a new tool against evil, but he had failed, he hadn't been able to steal it. That was a relief, Dumbledore must have taken measures greater than the Ministry to protect the Glass, and wherever it was now, it was safe. But something much more sinister lay below all these events. Voldemort knew the Predictor-Glass was going to be revealed. He knew where, when, and how to get to it. He had a spy.  
  
Liselle looked as sad as anyone had ever seen her, filled with sorrow and upset, but overwhelmed by a channelled anger. Esmerelda informed them that she had to be in the senatorial chamber immediately and hurried off. They began to walk back to the rooms when Merlin began to speak.  
  
"Liselle."  
  
She replied strongly, as if she knew what was coming. "Yes?"  
  
"We're going to go and get your father."  
  
The group stopped, and all nodded firmly,  
  
Ron spoke, "We can't let them get away with that, the least we can do is bring one person back."  
  
Then Harry, "Exactly. I never knew my parents, but if I had, this is what I'd do."  
  
The others expression showed their agreement. Ten minutes of corridors and lifts later, they were walking across the grounds towards the carriage that, despite the attack at the top of the Ministry building, had survived. Hundreds of wizards were buzzing around the top of the Christmas-pudding shaped building, some of the floating silver spheres they had noticed were the Ministry's transport, were also hovering around the damage, and it looked as if it was already being repaired. Three golden, glowing dragons, swished around elegantly in the air, scouting for trouble. Peggy the Pegasus was standing next to the carriage.  
  
Merlin walked up to the great horse and spoke, "We're going to need you to guide us to Bhorgal's Wood, do you understand ?"  
  
Peggy gave a grunt and bowed her great head. Merlin smiled and turned to the others who followed him up the steps and into the carriage. They didn't know how to pilot the carriage properly, but somehow, they'd manage.  
  
Meanwhile, at the base of the department of transport tower, Dumbledore, and four other old and wizened wizards like him emerged from a secret exit after having returned from The Round Table. Dumbledore spoke as he watched the carriage take off into the sky guided by the elegant Pegasus.  
  
"They shall do well my friends."  
  
Another of the old wizards spoke, "That I hope old friend, most sincerely."  
  
He spoke softly, turning to Dumbledore, and then back to the carriage disappearing through the clouds.  
  
The next wizard spoke, "It is ironic, that those who would aid us so dearly would not know of the true burden they carry."  
  
Dumbledore replied, "It is, Mundungus. It has begun. Only the wisdom of their hearts shall guide them now."  
  
For a few minutes, the six wizards looked on, and then parted, leaving no trace of their meeting, as the carriage headed back towards Bhorgal's Wood...  
  
Inside the carriage, an awkward silence filled the air. No one knew what exactly to say to Liselle, and even Malfoy stayed tactfully silent. The fact remained, however, that the carriage was flying along in a decidedly bumpy fashion, as if it was experiencing internal conflict as to which direction it was supposed to be flying in. Since none of them knew exactly how to get to their chosen destination anyway let alone how to pilot the carriage, Malfoy, Ron, Merlin and Harry were looking rather expectantly at Liselle as if contemplating asking her if she knew what to do, as she was the only one so far who had read even a bit of the manual.  
  
Liselle, however, was sitting in an armchair in a rather secluded section of the circular room, her head in her hands and gazing out of the window where the clouds seemed to be bobbing up and down due to the carriage's turbulence. This, though, appeared to have escaped her notice.  
  
"Liselle." Harry began.  
  
Her head raised, and looked at the other four vaguely through rather bright eyes. "Yes?"  
  
Harry moved away from the others, who were hanging back rather respectfully from Liselle, and crouched down at her side. "I know what you're going through-" At this point, fat tear drops spilled from Liselle's eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. "- and I want you to know that if you ever need to talk, about anything, that I'm here for you and so are the others. Well, maybe it wouldn't be a wise choice to talk to Malfoy." he added jokingly. Liselle managed a weak smile. "Anyway, we really need you to pilot this carriage. You know more about the controls than the rest of us. we'll help of course. Do you think you're up to it?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, of course I'm up to it," Liselle pushed up out of her chair, wiping at her cheeks. Relieved to hear her sounding more like her normal self, the others followed her to the control room.  
  
The control room looked much like it had when they'd last visited it, but this time, the knobs and levers were flicking about manically, as if they couldn't decide what setting they should be on. Additionally, the steering console was weaving all over the place, explaining their rather bumpy route.  
  
"Er, right. Well, here's the problem," Liselle began. "When we were flying from Bhorgal's Wood to the Malfoy Manor, or to Gringotts, or even to the Ministry, the carriage was programmed with the flight route, so we didn't have to fly it manually. Now, this little excursion back to Bhorgal's Wood is rather unplanned, and so has not programmed. So." She gestured to the array of flicking levers ahead of them, "We have to use this lot to fly us to the wood."  
  
"Oh, great. Well, that's going to be easy isn't it?" Malfoy's sarcastic voice rang out. "I mean, for starters, I bet you can't fly this thing, and secondly, Bhorgal's Wood is unplottable. How are we meant to find it even if we do manage to control this contraption?"  
  
"To answer you Malfoy, I do know how to fly this thing, well, partly anyway. But unfortunately, you're right about the wood. I don't know how to get there," Liselle replied. She hoisted herself up onto one of the plush leather seats in front of the steering console and looked down at the dials on the hub below it. After examining them for a while, she turned three of them anticlockwise, then pressed a huge amber gem. "Right. I've altered the settings so it's now entirely manual. The reason we were bobbing around earlier was because had this been a planned route, the auto-pilot would have kicked in. Since it's not planned, it shouldn't have, but I think the auto-pilot had been enjoying its job and didn't want to stop, thereby creating turbulence by fighting with the function trying to shut the auto- pilot down. Anyway, now we can fly this by ourselves."  
  
Merlin, who had been standing examining a control panel set into the oak counter rimming the room, looked up and added, "Liselle, you've got control of the steering wheel, and it seems that these levers here control height and speed. And this screen here-" Merlin indicated to a black screen rimmed with multicoloured gems next to him, "-acts as a map. See, there's a sort of pen here, and if I just write in where we're going." Merlin picked up a long silver rod with a pointed end, and scrawled, 'Bhorgal's Wood' onto the screen. The writing glowed a bright, vivid blue for a few seconds, then faded into the screen. Everyone watched interestedly as a flashing dot appeared on the screen. "That's our carriage," Merlin explained. Then, a small and bright red arrow appeared, indicating the way they should go.  
  
"I thought Bhorgal's Wood was unplottable?" asked Ron.  
  
"It is," frowned Merlin. "But. well, let's just follow the arrows. We don't know where it is, and there's nothing to lose."  
  
For the next couple of hours, Liselle followed the directions on the map, and Merlin adjusted the height and speed while Ron, Harry and Malfoy fiddled around with the other buttons, levers and dials, trying to find out what they did, after getting bored of trying to do the same using the manual. Peggy the Pegasus meanwhile flew on ahead of them, occasionally glancing back as if to make sure they were still following her. She, at least, seemed to know where they were going. They restricted themselves to limited conversation, as Liselle was still obviously upset about her news, and they didn't want to seem oblivious to that by acting as if nothing had happened. Although she tried to be subtle, the others still noticed her bright eyes welling up with glistening tears before letting them fall silently down her face as she stared almost absentmindedly out of the large window ahead of them.  
  
This continued for a while, until the arrow on the screen disappeared, and a swirly emerald text appeared in its place. It read, 'Depart here for chosen destination.' The occupants of the carriage looked at each other. Depart here? They were still in the air. Surely it couldn't mean. Suddenly, everything in the control room seemed to freeze up.  
  
"What's going on?" Merlin muttered, flicking one of the levers. The lever, however, had stuck and would neither move up or down. Liselle was having similar trouble with the steering wheel.  
  
Harry and Ron rushed to one of the windows in the side and looked down. They were incredibly high up but they could see that below them was not a wood, it was what looked like a small village. A church spire was clearly visible, along with the winding roads weaving around green fields. Lazy clouds floated past their window as the carriage hovered in the air. Peggy, however, seemed to have disappeared.  
  
"Er. what do we do now?" asked Harry.  
  
Before anyone had a chance to answer, the wings that had been keeping the carriage airborne contracted back into their compact golden compartments, and the carriage fell through the air like a stone. The five were thrown against the wall of the control room.  
  
"Aaaaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhhhh!!!!!" A universal scream filled the air and the ground grew rapidly before them. What was going to happen now? The fall would surely kill them all. They watched in horror as the town came closer into view, detail becoming frighteningly clear to them. The church loomed up on their left hand side, they were falling right into a field. The large window ahead of them was now facing the ground and they simultaneously drew in a sharp intake of breath as they prepared to collide.  
  
But the crash did not come. In fact, they now seemed to be sinking right through a large mass of shadow. The carriage suddenly returned to its normal flying position, although the controls were still entirely frozen. Clinging onto anything they could find for dear life, the five watched in amazement as the swirling fog around them thinned and they found themselves on the grassy floor of Bhorgal's Wood.  
  
Liselle was the first to react to the hasty landing. She sprung from her seat with alacrity. The others gathered their thoughts and readied themselves also. Harry looked puzzled for a moment but pulled himself together before asking the question that was on all of their minds.  
  
"What the hell do we do now?"  
  
No one seemed to have a concrete answer but they all seemed to agree that they should leave the carriage and that Merlin should communicate with Peggy. Malfoy placed his hand on the door of the carriage and it opened easily. The group stepped out onto the strange grass of Bhorgal's Wood for the second time. Everything was as they remembered it from the last time except that it was eerily quiet, much more so than before. Peggy stood next to Merlin and he seemed to be whispering something into her ear, she was neighing in agreement. This rather strange sight continued for a while. The rest of the group huddled closer together, discussing various plans. Liselle looked pale and her eyes were bright from unshed tears but her voice and resolution were steely. Finally Merlin rejoined the rest of them and the discussion about what to do next began in earnest. He revealed what he and Peggy had been 'discussing', which direction to head in and what the overwhelming and obviously unnatural silence meant. He reminded them that some but not all of the creatures had been rounded up by the Department of Magic but that the vast majority of them, the X-rated ones had been gathered by Voldemort and would be used in attacking both Muggles and Wizarding folk alike if they did not act soon. Liselle looked extremely worried at this, she turned to the group and began.  
  
"I don't know what, if anything, you know about my parents. They work... worked for the Global Magisterial Senate of Sorcery, we travelled a lot when I was young, Mexico, Australia, Antarctica, northern Europe, you name it we visited there. When it was time for me to start at Hogwarts, we settled in Ireland where my parents are originally from and where I was born. Dad got a promotion at the senate and he worked closely with the departments of co-operation and with all magical creatures, that is why he must have been sent here, on work to do with the magical creatures. I'm not exactly sure what though... I suppose that we'll just have to find out." After finishing her speech she turned away slightly from the group.  
  
Merlin stepped forward and continued explaining what he had been talking about with Peggy, surmising it with, "Basically Peggy says that we need to travel Eastward." They looked eastwards apprehensively and as one they set forth.  
  
The trees grew thicker every step they took. Mist swirled at their feet giving them the feeling that they were walking on clouds. A universal feeling of apprehension filled the air. Just because the creatures native to Bhorgal's Wood were no longer present, didn't mean they were free from danger. Other beings haunted this wood, as Merlin had explained before. Paler than the mist at their feet, strange clouds of former ghosts hung ominously between the trees, lightly illuminating their surroundings. Using the Revelusiacenturo charm, they were able to resist the illusions created around them. To be tricked by a spirit of the wood could be very dangerous, as once confused, bearings are lost and without being able to find a way out, the wood can take its toll. That was what Merlin, at least, feared may have happened to Liselle's father. All around them was absolute silence. It was more eerie than when the creatures had been there; sometimes 'nothing' can scare a person as much as a 'something'. Suddenly, the silence was broken. It was more like the rustling of the trees than a voice, but the words it whispered were unmistakable. "Follow me." The group froze. "What was that?" whispered Malfoy, as everyone clutched their wands tighter. "Shh, listen," Liselle murmured. The others saw her holding her finger to her lips, her face illuminated by the cold bluish white glow of a nearby ghost. A breeze suddenly picked up behind them, animated by glittering particles and leaves that were caught up in it and twirled around each one of them before heading forward, as if showing the way. "Come. this way. do not tarry. time is scarce." the voice whispered. As if caught in a spell, they followed the path the breeze took them in. Thoughts of illusions crossed Merlin's mind, but how could it be an illusion? They had only just performed the anti-disillusionment spell. Merlin and Harry were at the head of the group, following the breeze on its winding path through the trees. The wood had grown so dark that they didn't see the clearing in the trees before they had reached it- a large area ahead of them was entirely devoid of trees, as if they were predisposed to not grow there, lit subtly by the misty glow of the ghosts. The shape it made out was a perfect square. Looking up, they could see the full height of the trees that surrounded it which seemed to stretch for miles. At the very top was a small square of black night sky, speckled with tiny stars. Now that there was a constant light source, a movement to one side of the clearing caught their eyes. A flash of red hair, followed by something else, something much, much larger. As they strained their eyes to pick up the movement in the deep shadows of the trees that lined the edge of the clearing, the group made out two figures skulking in the shadows, as if afraid to be seen. Then they saw it. A body lying in the far corner of the clearing. Liselle let out a shriek and broke away from the others as the tore across the open ground, apparently without a care for any possible consequences. She stopped abruptly as soon as she got close enough to see the body properly and took a startled step backwards, a look of pure disgust on her face. The others rushed to join her but remained level with her, a good distance from the body ahead of them.  
  
"Liselle. is that. er." Harry broke off, not knowing quite how to finish.  
  
The man looked drained and empty, as if something essential to him had been sucked from him. None of them could be sure, but he looked dead. Liselle held back tears, contorting her face and covering her forehead with a hand. Harry and Ron eventually, not quite knowing what to do, knelt down next to her and tried to comfort her. Merlin walked up to the man and checked his pulse. He stood up, turning away from the man and looked at the ground confirming the other's thoughts. Liselle's hand moved over her mouth and she frowned deeply and sorrowfully. Richard Lafelle had been lost to Bhorgal, his humanisms absorbed by Bhorgal for the creature's nourishment. Liselle brushed away restrained tears and recovered herself.  
  
Ron was the first to speak, albeit stutteringly, although it was obvious he didn't quite know what to say. "What do we do now then?"  
  
Merlin opened his mouth to speak, but before he could continue, there was a terrible groan, as deep as the rumblings of an earthquake, as foul as the darkest decay, the most pungent evil. An odour so thick and sharp with the bitter tinge of rot and sourness, it surrounded and paralysed them. The air itself seemed to recoil within itself, manifesting within it the immense fear that what was behind Merlin exuded. Becoming so tense, their lungs lurched and held, not daring to breathe. The growl was so loud, so dreadfully deafening, that their hands instinctively moved up to cover their ears, but the striking shock the noise released made their hands freeze at their sides. It was the roar of the most massive troll, amplified a hundred times in depth and volume, making the very ground shudder, and tainted with a rattling, piercing evil hiss, a vengeful hiss layered with the most intense audible anger and thirst. A massive boom and the ground was pounded so hard it shook and vibrated like the skin of drum beaten too heavily. Thousands of leaves fell down on them, their drift not slow and gentle, but quickened as if in fear, like shards of shattered glass falling to the ground. A shadow crept over Merlin, and then the others. Somehow the huge tremor had not made them fall, perhaps their fear and apprehension held them still, they couldn't scream and even if they could it would be futile. Merlin dared not look behind him, but the others' gaze was transfixed on the terror-inspiring form that stood behind him. A huge, vaguely man-shaped beast, totally black, covered in marred, cracked and sickly charred skin secreting an oily black slime. It stood twice as tall as the troll Harry and Ron had encountered four years ago. Its head was rounded to its immense, black shoulders which we shrouded in tangled, black hair that looked like streams of ragged barbed-wire that adorned its hill- like head and crept over its contorted and dumbed face, whose features, apart from shiny black eyes, centred with tiny yellow pupils, were lost in the blackness. Its arms, as thick as the heftiest logs, hung unnaturally low below its creased and slimy knees that centred disproportionately smaller legs, yet legs thicker almost, than some of the trees around them. It carried in its left hand, a giant black axe that more than doubled all of their heights, that was grasped in huge, long fingers with black nails half as long as them. Its shape was slumped and its head looked burrowed amid its shoulders. It had an almost tired and weary quality, as if unwillingly driven by its own evil to go on. It snorted with a horrific hiss from the back of its throat which swung the leaves and mist on the forest floor into a frenzied flurry. Merlin, horrified and terror struck himself barely took in the awe struck, and petrified faces of the others before slowly looking up to what was behind him. Without looking down, it begin to growl again in its evil and horrible, shaking tremor, groaning all the time it looked down at Merlin, bending towards him, the roar becoming louder and more hideous, the visible features of the creature contorting as its mouth moved wider and wider as the colossal noise became louder, deeper, more croaking and booming, Merlin's short hair was buffeting in the sickly and rotted, boilingly moist blast of air, straining not to fall backwards against it. The creature (who they had all now realised, beyond a doubt was of course the infamous Bhorgal), withdrew, the growl lessening, and flung backwards, raising the massive axe above his head, the roar now even more deafening, becoming one of tremendous might and rage, the tiny yellow pupils blazing amid the black eyes that were huge with anger.  
  
Merlin looked on wide eyed, terrified, reaching inside his robes for his wand which he drew out, releasing a suppressed gasp as Bhorgal threw the axe down with grinding speed and strength, he seemed to begin shouting a spell, "Defl......."  
  
There was a huge thud, a small burst of light between the axe and Merlin, and he was swept away in the horrendously heavy swipe, high into the trees, where there was a small slam and the sound of someone falling through branches.  
  
Before the others could react to this, Bhorgal looked swiftly down on them hungrily, his mouth opened, releasing a terrible growling hiss. They recoiled, but suddenly the growl dwindled. Bhorgal snorted, looking around them, peering for something, his eyes reducing to a slat. Then they saw it, a flash of bright red hair darted just behind the vast form of Bhorgal. Bhorgal's head glanced round and down with a darting speed unexpected from such a huge creature. He darted his head around the clearing, almost in fear. He grunted apprehensively, but still with no less venom. He averted his glance down to them, a hint of reluctance and immediacy in his luminous pupils. He snarled, then turned and ran, his massive feat pounding the ground. He knocked against a tree with his axe as he ran, pelting it out of the way. A huge chunk appeared in its side amid showers of sawdust. The ground shook with dizzying force, and the group fell to the ground amidst the swirling mists and the disturbed, newly fallen layer of leaves that dispersed in the air above them. Harry, Malfoy and Liselle witnessed a brief dash of red closer than before and began to right themselves.  
  
They were quick to notice that Ron had disappeared.  
  
"Where's Ron?" Harry exclaimed.  
  
Liselle didn't have an answer. There was a shuffling in the trees, and Merlin's rather battered form emerged from the trees and made towards them, he still had his wand in his hand.  
  
"Oh thank god you're ok, we thought you were dead for sure," Liselle, somewhat relieved exclaimed, moving towards Merlin. Even Harry, following her, looked relieved to see he was ok.  
  
"I managed to protect myself from the axe, but I couldn't do much about the fall. I must have fallen through about fifty foot of branches. Good job they were there though, they slowed me down enough to get hold of one of the trees so I could float myself down. I couldn't see the tops of them even from there." Merlin paused, turning his head, and peering around. "Where's Ron?" he asked.  
  
Harry replied, "I don't know. I think someone might have kidnapped him, I saw something with red hair go past us when Bhorgal ran off."  
  
"Me too," contributed Liselle.  
  
"Whatever it was, it scared Bhorgal off, what do you think could do that?" Malfoy added.  
  
"I've no idea, whatever it is, it mustn't be something dangerous to Bhorgal, otherwise it would have killed him off by now, unless... unless it came in recently of course," Merlin responded. This speculation sent shudders down their spines, something that could frighten Bhorgal was surely something worse than him.  
  
"I think it went that way." Harry pointed, indicating a darkened depth, even more so than the rest of the wood.  
  
"I know we have to follow, but is it wise, going after something that can send Bhorgal running?" Liselle said, looking down at her father's body.  
  
"I know, but we have to find Ron," Harry proclaimed. Merlin nodded, and Malfoy gave an expression that seemed to reluctantly agree. Liselle looked up and nodded as well.  
  
"Well... We'd better get going then," Malfoy said matter-of-factly. Liselle looked down once more at her father's body.  
  
"At least we know where he is," Merlin added, looking towards Liselle. But Liselle's gaze didn't seem to be inspired by grief any more, she was frowning.  
  
"Liselle?" Harry inquired.  
  
Liselle knelt down, and it was then that the other two noticed that Mr Lafelle had been holding something. A large, compass like device, made mostly of silver and aged-looking yellow gold. It had lots of areas sectioned off on its face under the glass, bearing different characters, engraved areas and lots of tiny fluctuating needles. In the centre were a set of five larger hands and another set of larger needles attached to the central hub, moving around, apparently meaninglessly.  
  
"I've seen this before, it used to be on the mantle piece in our dining room," said Liselle, in a curious and intrigued, almost-whisper.  
  
"It's what they used to get here. I don't know its proper name, there have only ever been ten made, six of which are still in existence, or at least we know where they are. I was given one to get to the Azkabanian coast and Merlin's Arctic observatory, but I lost it when I was attacked by... Never mind." Merlin halted, glancing at Malfoy. "You need a map to use it, they must have managed to take theirs back with them, but I've still got mine." He produced the thick parchment map they had seen the old wizard outside the Ministry of Magic give him. "We'll know which way we're going now."  
  
He opened the map and glanced at the device. He turned the map round a few times, turning his head and then pointed. The thing that took Ron was heading Luna South, but the South it was heading only continues for another quarter of a mile and it becomes Standard North West. Merlin looked up at the baffled faces. "What?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "What?!" Merlin exclaimed. They headed towards the clearing, and hopefully, towards Ron.  
  
Meanwhile, in an unusually light clearing, Ron awoke, laying on the floor. He looked up to see a youthful and intrigued face staring down it him. The face was glowing with an odd luminous aura, and was surrounded by a head of lustrous, flaming red hair.  
  
Ron edged backwards in fear. "Who are you? Where are my friends?"  
  
"Don't worry yourself. You are in no immediate danger," said the girl. She was sitting on a rock in the clearing.  
  
"Well, who are you?" Ron asked again. There was a slight doubt in his mind whether or not to trust this girl, but there seemed little else to do under the circumstances.  
  
"I'm Abi Weasley. Look Ron, I'm going to tell you some things, and I want you to believe them. There's not reason why you should, of course, but I'll trust that you will. There's something you need to know about this wood-"  
  
"Wait, wait, you're Abi Weasley? My great grandmother? Aren't you supposed to be, well, dead?" Ron interrupted.  
  
"I'll get to that, Ron, just be patient. As I said, there's something you must understand about this wood. Many years ago, I, among others, was involved in a battle against a dark wizard. A battle which ended in the creation of this wood. It happened like this. When I was eighteen I married your great grandfather, Edward Weasley. He joined my family in caring for the pegasuses in the Pegusian Valley. That was the only place Pegasuses were known to live in the wild. Our home had been there for generations. It was well known that the valley was home to many beings and plants that were needed for protecting the wizarding world, but we were not prepared for the attack on us. A powerful curse was placed on the valley, one even Dumbledore couldn't prevent. A jet of light glowed a bright and powerful white and ended life here as we knew it. The Pegusian Valley became Bhorgal's Wood. Then the wizard, Grindelwald, aimed another curse right at Edward. It was horrible. I remember him writhing and twisting on the ground, surrounded by such a bright white glow. I had to shield my eyes. When I looked again, Edward was gone; I never saw him again. As if this wasn't enough, there was suddenly a huge jolt, that rocked the ground I was standing on. It was if the whole wood was moving. I felt it rush downwards, as if sinking below the ground. I was trapped in a wood I couldn't escape from. Grindelwald's final blow was to encase me in time- I no longer aged. I became eighteen for the rest of my life. That's what this glow is around me. One thing I did have though, was a monster roaming the wood. He's the monster that attacked you and your friends before. I've heard they call him Bhorgal. Men have entered the wood from the realm above, but most of them die- they either encounter the evil beings, or Bhorgal attacks them. For some reason he doesn't attack me. I don't know why. Sometimes I speak to him, if only to tell him not to attack newcomers to the wood. He understands me, and heeds what I say, but he does not reply. I don't believe he can speak, only growl. I try to protect those who enter, by following them to stop Bhorgal attacking, but I can't stop the evil spirits killing them. I think you and your friends may have seen me following you around the wood on your previous visit. Of all people, I wanted to make sure you were one who left this place. And you did. But now you return."  
  
"We had to return, Liselle's dad was trapped here. But Bhorgal."  
  
"Yes, I know. I got there too late to save him. But it brought you back here, just like the prophecy said." Abi almost whispered the last part.  
  
"What? We were meant to come back?"  
  
Abi brushed over this as if it had not been said. Before Ron could ask again, or how she knew, or why exactly they were meant to revisit the wood. Abi lowered her head to Ron's eye level and began to speak,  
  
"Ron, there are many things I would like to ask you, things about our family, things about the world, but time is short, and so I must get to the point." Abi mustered a sincere face and continued, "There is something you know Ron, and it is something I need to know too, something in here." She paused for a moment to point at Ron's head. "It is something so important, that measures were taken to prevent you from being aware of what you witnessed, and to ensure what you saw was never revealed. Now it is essential that you remember what you saw. An incredibly complex charm was placed on you both for your protection and to ensure the secret you witnessed was never revealed. They thought it was an accident, they though you weren't supposed to be there, but it was all written Ron, it was all predefined in every detail in The Merlin Prophecies, and now you are the only one who lives who remembers. Voldemort captured the three who had discussed this infront of you, in your father's office in fact, and you were there, your father was ordered to leave before he could pick you up and take you out. They didn't give him chance, the Ministry was under attack, and this who would have thought that such important things would be discussed in an office belonging to a minor department. Well they didn't have time to implement their plans, a giant broke into the office and they were killed. Maybe if they had chosen a more secure venue than your father's office, they would have survived, but he who must not be named had traitors in the higher departments, and wouldn't bother placing a spy to watch the actions of a simple clerk from the muggle artefacts office, and so that, along with a fateful series of events, is why your father's office was chosen, and the Prophecy chose you Ron. You'd been sleeping, so no-one new, but you woke up and heard it all, and after the office was attacked, you were found, and your memory protected, your father and his colleagues' memories wiped by an elusive department at the Ministry, and you were the only one who had heard it all, but you were barely a month old. What we do know is that whatever these two men were discussiong, it was something that Voldemort needed to hear, it would have led him to unbelievable power we think, but what he needed was destroyed by a clumsy giant who had been ordered to create a diversion by attacking the lower department buildings whilst he who must not be named himself moved to capture these two wizards. He failed, and a short time later, met his downfall. All the knowledge, knowledge that is now more important than ever, was held in the mind of a baby, unknown to anyone, not even Voldemort, and perhaps most importantly, unknown to you."  
  
Abi stared poigniantly into Ron's eyes, almost as if she could see something there no-one else could. She stood up straight, though never breaking her gaze, it was sort of creepy, but there was nothing else Ron could do than to listen to her, seeing as he had no idea where he was, or how to get back to the others.  
  
"There is a place in this wood Ron, a place I once called my home. When Grindlewald made the wood what it is today, it's focal point was the house which myself and Edward called our own. It was where we were standing when Grindlewald transformed the wood into what is today, and as such, is the focal point of the contortion and illusion that plagues this land. It is the deepest point of the wood. Even the creatures of this place dare not venture there for fear that even their natural defences against the effects of this place would fail them there, and they are wise to think so. Because it is the centre of the wood, it is the place that mirrors reality in its most potent form, but, at the same time, it is twisted out of any recognisable logic. It is swathed in riddles and illusions, even thought works differently there. It plays home to endless memories, whispers of the past, the present, and sometimes even the future. It is home to deception and cloud, yet at the same time, meaning and even answers. The house is the natural centre of this, it is where the most dangerous spirits of the wood gather, spirits shrouded in mystery and lost memory beyond anything else. In entering the house, you enter a living dream, a living nightmare, a reality conjured from your own thoughts and yet intertwined with the aged secrets and thoughts of countless hundreds, their feelings, their ponderings, sometimes their comprehension, and most of all their fears, even a shadow of my presence in the house remains there from my time there, before its sinking, and I have no doubt it will keep you safe."  
  
Ron stood for a moment trying to take this all in, and considering if he should just take the chance to run blindly into the wood in the hope this woman, or this whatever it was (he thought, taking in the oddly vibrant eyes and other-worldly glowing skin and hair), hoping he somehow found the others before Bhorgal, or some other creature, found him. He decided against it, at least he seemed to be relatively safe here, and, although she was a bit odd, and he couldn't quite absorb everything she was saying, let alone understand any of it, she seemed trustworthy, and if there was ever any chance of him getting back to the others, and the hopefully home, it seemed like she could take him there.  
  
"Why are you telling me all of this? What do you want me to do? I can't remember anything about this, and besides, if I wasn't even a month old when it happened, I don't think I ever will." Ron paused, trying to break eye contact with Abi, as it seemed like she could see right through him, past his eyes and into his thoughts. Maybe she could. This was getting creepier by the second. "Look, if there's something you want me to do I'll try my best, as long as you promise to take me back to my friends and get us out of here."  
  
Abi looked down at him, again drawing him into her piercing stare.  
  
"Ron, it is of the utmost importance that you re-discover your memory of that day. You may think it impossible, but it is there, somwhere in your mind, and the powers at work in the house are more than strong enough to extract that memory and try and present it to you, but it will be too cryptic to reveal any true depth of detail to you, only the most basic meanings that are presented to you will become apparent. You have to understand Ron, the forces that exist within the house do not think in the ways we do, they know only riddles and metaphor, but at least some of the answers you must seek will be revealed there. You must go to the house Ron, and search. For what I do not know, but it is imperitive. Voldemort is returning, everything here senses it, deep in our hearts we can all feel a time of great turmoil may be upon us. You hold a secret Ron, a very important secret, about something I know not what, but it is essential we realise why Voldemort wanted this knowledge so as we may ensure whatever advantage to He who must not be named the specialists were involved with is not made available to him. For safety's purpose, they were the only two who knew about it, and now they are dead, and none but you live to tell of it, you are the only hope left for us to discover this threat and abolish it Ron."  
  
Ron looked up at Abi with a dumbstruck and utterly daunted look on his face.  
  
"Well I'll do my best." Ron said in a disbelieving tone that matched his expression.  
  
Abi's serious face allowed a smile to peer through.  
  
"And you will my child, it is your nature." The smile dissolved as Abi turned towards an opening and the trees continued. "The house is just through that clearing. I regret to say I cannot join you, doing so would only cloud your perceptions there with elements of my memories, of which there are many, maybe too many, and the experience must be yours and yours alone." Abi swiftly turned round and gave Ron the most intrusive and analytical stare yet, startled he had to stop himself from stumbling backwards. There was an odd glint her eyes as she began speaking with a frightening urgency Ron had yet to hear from her,  
  
"Go to the house Ron. HURRY. There is not time time to contemplate the situation, no time to ponder the intracacies, all I can ask is that you trust me. I have known of this event, your arrival, the tasks you and your friends must perform from far before you were even born, and I have had plenty of time to think about this enough for both of us. There are times when you must live in the moment for the sake of the future. This is one of those times. Act quickly, the place you are about to go is a strange one, do not think too much about what you see, it may only confuse you more, for now, fate will guide you, there will be plenty of time to discover the true meanings of what you observe later. You will find answers there to questions you are not yet aware of, and you will leave with more questions than when you entered, but I assure you, the experience can only be advantageous both to you and on a wider scale. You must go quickly though, time runs here as it does in the outside world and everywhere evil forces are gathering." She paused a moment, leaving an intense silence. Allowing Ron to realise for the first time just how quiet the wood was here. Suddenly she shouted "RUN!" Shocked and stunned at the abrupt break in the uneasy quiet. He was terrified. Whether by the clearing ahead of him or the surreal, towering figure of Abi, he couldn't tell. He needed no more invitation, and quickly broke into a run, glancing behind him at Abi's unbreaking gaze only for a few seconds before turning forwards and running flat out towards the house as Abi watched until he disappeared amid the vast grey tree trunks.  
  
He arrived a few moments later in leaf-carpeted clearing, illuminated, as was the entire wood, by the incessantly misty blue glow of the moon. Before him stood a grand old house, almost entirely covered with creepers, and trees that had grown close to it had entwined themselves to form a great outer wall of twisted bark as if the house was a part of the wood itself. The dark windows were just visible beneath the leaves and branches that covered it. They were framed with old rotten wood, the paint that had once covered them was cracked and peeling. Two large chimneys bedecked either side of the roof, which itself was not visible for the greenery. Ron could have sworn he could see a faint cloud of smoke protruding from one of them, but he dismissed it- it was more likely to be a gathering of mist that swirled throughout the wood. The front door, however, was free from any plants that had covered it, as if someone had only recently pulled them away. As he looked closer, he saw that the door was ever so slightly ajar. He frowned. It was almost as if the house was expecting him, but that was just silly.  
  
Ron stood for a moment, wondering which was worse, the looming fear of the wood or the unknown depths of the house before him. He couldn't decide, and so mustered all the courage he could, and walked up to the door and entered.  
  
There was a creak and a thud as the door closed behind him. Ron was used to doors closing magically, but the surroundings agitated him, and he turned round quickly in fear, to see the door click shut behind him. He tried the door. It was locked. It obviously wasn't going to let him out yet. No that was stupid, the door was just locked. Ron couldn't help noticing what were unmistakbly hushed whispers penetrating the slience, barely audible, but he could occasionally make out words, some disjointed phrases that made no sense, some words in different languages he couldn't understand, and he was sure he could hear his name sometimes, almost as if the very dust was stirring, moving, holding secrets that they sometimes let slip in these hushed tones. Pictures hung on the wall in golden frames dulled with dust. The occupants of the pictures were nowhere to be seen. Empty scenery filled each of the engraved frames. Ahead of them was a short space then three steps lead up to a large hallway. On either side of that was a staircase that disappeared into the gloom. Ahead and to the left were two closed wooden panelled doors with bronze handles, and the same to the right, but one of the doors was now hanging off of its frame- it seemed that the nails in the hinges had rusted away. At one end of the hallway the floor seemed to have given way, and the wooden floor boards were sticking up in all directions surrounding a deep shadowy hole, large splinters littering the floor around them. The lights above them were strung so thickly with cobwebs that Ron thought that even if they worked, no light would shine out of them. Unnerving as this was, he was relieved not to have encountered any spirits or wood beings yet.  
  
Not knowing where to go first, he went through the only open doorway, the one with the door on its hinges. He found himself ina sort of drawing room. There was a chair in a corner that something was sitting on. Quite what he couldn't tell for all the layers of dust and cobwebs caked on top of it. He moved up to it, and blew at the top to remove some of the dust. He let out a scream and stepped back quickly as the dust blew away to reveal an eye socket. It was a skeleton...  
  
To be continued... 


End file.
